Life

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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Paleontology

    The hunchback of central Spain

    An exquisitely preserved dinosaur from central Spain has a hump on its back and suggestions of featherlike appendages on its arms. The primitive carnivore lived about 125 million years ago and may push back the first known instance of feathers on the dinosaur family tree.

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  2. Earth

    Not in this toad’s backyard

    Yellow crazy ants meet a hungry obstacle as they spread into cacao plantations.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Study clarifies obesity-infertility link

    In female mice, high insulin levels cause a disruptive flood of fertility hormones.

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  4. Ecosystems

    No ‘dead zone’ from BP oil

    As aquatic microbes dine, they consume oxygen. When too many congregate at some temporary smorgasbord of goodies, they can use up so much oxygen that a so-called dead zone develops — water with too little oxygen to sustain fish, mammals or shellfish. On Sept. 7, federal scientists reported that despite the massive release of oil from the damaged BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, no such dead zone developed.

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  5. Life

    Microbe’s survival manual

    Researchers have uncovered how D. radiodurans can withstand extreme radiation.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Gloves may head off ‘garden’ variety pneumonia

    Compost feels so good, sifting through a gardener’s fingers. Unfortunately, data are showing, this soil amendment can host a germ responsible for Legionnaire’s disease, a potentially serious form of pneumonia.

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  7. Life

    Feud over family ties in evolution

    Prominent scientists dispute kinship’s role in self-sacrifice among highly social creatures.

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  8. Life

    Hints of altruism among bacteria

    E. coli bacteria fight antibiotics with help from drug-resistant neighbors.

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  9. Life

    Why starved flies need less sleep

    Low lipid levels keep the insects buzzing past bedtime, a new study finds, suggesting a role for metabolism in regulating sleep.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Wheat genome announcement turns out to be small beer

    The DNA sequence released by U.K. team still requires assembly.

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  11. Earth

    Primordial bestiary gets an annex

    A classic Canadian fossil trove extends to thinner deposits, geologists find.

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  12. Plants

    Evergreen source of Tamiflu

    Pine and spruce needles brim with flu-drug precursor.

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