Life
Sign up for our newsletter
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Why diversity rules
A new experiment demonstrates the way a multitude of specialized species absorb nutrients more effectively than a highly productive one.
By Susan Milius - Life
Sugar fuels growth of insulin-making cells
Mouse study suggests a new strategy for treating diabetes.
- Life
Worries grow over monarch butterflies
Migrants overwintering in Mexico rebounded somewhat this past winter, but still trending downward.
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
Supersized superbunny
Fossils reveal a non-hopping giant rabbit that lived on the island of Minorca 5 million years ago.
By Susan Milius - Life
Genes & Cells
Traditional medicine helps give the slip to bacteria, plus insulin insensitivity and dental plaque in this week's news.
By Science News - Life
Great-grandpa’s genes gone, effects stay
Removing an obesity-preventing scrap of DNA from a mouse lineage doesn’t prevent descendants from reaping its slimming benefits for generations.
- Life
Wasps airlift annoying ants
In a scrap over food, being big and able to fly is an advantage.
By Susan Milius - Life
Life
A fossil flower from one of life’s early bloomers, plus monkey business and shark cleanings in this week’s news.
By Science News - Life
DNA flaws can stack up as cancer grows
Acute myeloid leukemia progresses by accumulating various mutations, according to an analysis of one man’s disease over time.
- Humans
Noise is what ails beaked whales
Large-scale experiments reveal a sensitivity to sonar, apparently at lower levels than other species.
- Life
Brain chemical influences sexual preference in mice
Males lacking the neurotransmitter serotonin court both sexes equally, researchers are surprised to find.
- Life
Life
Cells can sense a tough road ahead, plus promiscuous amoebas and sensitive birds of prey in this week’s news.
By Science News