Life

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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    All present-day life arose from a single ancestor

    A major tenet of evolutionary theory — that all life stems from a common source — passes a statistical test.

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  2. Animals

    Mirror, mirror on the wall, you’re the scariest fish of all

    That thing in the mirror may be more upsetting than a real fish.

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  3. Earth

    Archaeopteryx fossil seen in new light

    X-ray technique reveals original tissue in the feathers of a primitive bird fossil.

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  4. Life

    One ocean, four (or more) killer whale species

    A new genetic analysis splits killer whales into multiple taxa.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Genetic switch makes old mice forgetful

    Reversing a chemical change restored the animals’ memory-making ability.

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  6. Life

    Neandertal genome yields evidence of interbreeding with humans

    After years of looking, geneticists are shocked to find that 1 percent to 4 percent of DNA in people from Europe and Asia is inherited from Neandertals.

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  7. Life

    Undereducated immune cells get aggressive with HIV

    Scientists discover a mechanism that makes some people resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.

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  8. Life

    One ocean, four (or more) killer whale species

    Killer whales may be at least four species, a new study of mitochondrial DNA shows.

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  9. Life

    Scientists bag frog genome

    Lab favorite arrives relatively late to the genetic revolution.

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  10. Earth

    Wringing hope from crashing biodiversity

    Biodiversity losses have not slowed despite a treaty designed to protect variety in the natural world.

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  11. Physics

    Reverse engineering a quantum compass

    Physicists propose a method that could explain how birds’ magnetic-sensing organs work.

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  12. Animals

    Aphids make their own bright colors

    The insects’ ancestors adapted fungal DNA for manufacturing vital compounds.

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