Life
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Earth
Ancient marine reptiles losing their cool
Warm-bloodedness may help explain the creatures’ evolutionary success, a new study suggests.
By Sid Perkins -
Ecosystems
Parasite brood gets help from nearby microbes
A critical interaction between whipworm and E. coli suggests a new way to battle the common gut infection.
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Life
Missing chemicals on Titan could signal life
Methane-based organisms on one of Saturn’s moons might be consuming the materials.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Possible snake shortage looms
Declines among species in Europe and Africa raise herpetologists’ worries of widespread population losses.
By Susan Milius -
Climate
With warming, some commercial fish may boom and bust
Higher temps in Arctic waters might be good for some species but not for others, new research suggests.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Marine creature cooks up chemical defense from food
The sea hare transforms a benign algal pigment into a noxious molecule to help ward off crabs and other predators, new studies show.
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Animals
Sex, crickets and videotape
Security cameras focused on insects in the wild are looking at whether lab science has gotten the singing, mating and fighting right.
By Susan Milius -
Humans
Tracing Jewish roots
An analysis of the entire genome of Jewish people shows Middle Eastern roots and traces ancestry across the globe.
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Animals
Diversified portfolio yields benefit for salmon stocks
Local diversity keeps sockeye from going bust every few years, a study finds.
By Susan Milius -
Life
Seaweed genome reveals tools for multicellular lifestyle
Genetic blueprints of a brown alga reveal adaptations to changing tides and may give clues for to evolution of more complex life.
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Ecosystems
Honeybee death mystery deepens
Government scientists link colony collapse disorder to mix of fungal and viral infections.
By Eva Emerson