Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Plants and fungi recognize generous trading partners
Rewards — and consequences — stabilize underground biological market in mutualistic relationships.
- Life
Paper wasps help out for their own good
Behavior that appears altruistic actually benefits number one.
- Paleontology
Sea monsters made great mothers
Fossilized plesiosaur with fetus suggests ancient reptiles cared for their young.
- Chemistry
Meteorites contain chemicals linked to life
Space rocks could have delivered DNA building blocks to Earth.
- Life
Rare gene variants linked to ADHD
Missing or added genes cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other disorders, such as autism.
- Life
Common virus may ride up nose to brain
Almost everyone is infected, but in some people a widespread herpes bug appears to reach the central nervous system by an olfactory route.
- Life
Bacteria binged on BP oil but didn’t grow
Researchers suspect the spilled crude didn’t provide a balanced diet.
- Life
Genes & Cells
Lung infections, stress effects in the womb and the genetics of stomach cancer in this week’s news.
- Life
How exercise benefits nerve cells
Activity stimulates production of a neural insulation that moves messages faster.
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- Life
A cougar in Connecticut
Using DNA and trailside cameras, wildlife biologists retrace the 18-month, 2,000-mile journey of a young male cat.
- Earth
Eels point to suffocating Gulf floor
In June, scientists predicted that the Gulf of Mexico’s annual dead zone — a subsea region where the water contains too little oxygen to support life — might develop into the biggest ever. In fact, that didn’t happen. Owing to the fortuitous arrival of stormy weather, this year’s dead zone peaked at about 6,800 square miles, scientists reported on Aug. 1 — big but far from the record behemoth of 9,500 square miles that had been mentioned as distinctly possible.
