Life

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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Humans

    Google a bedbug today

    With no good technological solutions, entomologists call on the public to remain eternally vigilant against a resurgent foe.

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  2. Life

    Neandertal relative bred with humans

    Known only through DNA extracted from a scrap of bone, a Siberian hominid group suggests a much more complicated prehistory for Homo sapiens.

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  3. Life

    Genes separate Africa’s elephant herds

    Genetic work reveals forest and savanna pachyderms as distinct species.

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  4. Life

    Gene genesis

    About a quarter of present-day life's DNA blueprint had been sketched out by 2.8 billion years ago, a new analysis finds.

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  5. Animals

    Female chimps play with ‘dolls’

    Youngsters mimic mothering by cradling sticks, reigniting debate over sex differences in toy choices.

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  6. Earth

    Bugged forests bad for climate

    Trees savaged by pine beetles are slow to recover their ecological function as greenhouse gas sponges.

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  7. Chemistry

    Hornet pigment drives solar cell in lab

    Though far from photosynthetic, an insect's light-harvesting apparatus intrigues scientists.

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  8. Earth

    Climate action could save polar bears

    Cutting fossil fuel emissions soon would retain enough sea ice habitat for threatened species, scientists say.

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  9. Life

    Mice missing protein burn more fat

    Research on the receptor for the 'hunger hormone' suggests a molecular strategy for revving up the body’s furnace.

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  10. Life

    New cellular ‘bones’ revealed

    Proteins that make filaments may offer hints to how cellular scaffolding evolved.

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  11. Life

    Cells reprogrammed to treat diabetes

    The testes may be an alternate source of insulin production.

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  12. Life

    Rooting for swarm intelligence in plants

    Researchers argue for a type of vegetative group decision making usually associated with humans and social animals, and go out on a limb by also proposing that information may be transmitted electrically.

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