Life

  1. Computing

    Leaf veins loopy for a reason

    A computer simulation finds that leaves' circular networks are efficient at getting around damaged spots and varying distribution load.

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  2. Life

    Skin cells transformed directly into neurons

    Researchers making neurons bypass the need to revert cells to an embryonic state.

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  3. Paleontology

    Reverbs of bat echolocation studies

    Ancient bat may well have used sound waves to sense the world, Sid Perkins reports in the latest Deleted Scenes blog.

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  4. Life

    Keeping black bears wild

    Wildlife managers compare ways to keep bears away from food and people.

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  5. Life

    Carried aloft, tiny creatures avoid parasites, sex

    Dry and blowing in the breeze, rotifers are safe from a deadly fungus — and perhaps from the vulnerabilities presumed to accompany asexual reproduction.

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  6. Earth

    Dinosaurs, in living color

    Researchers find microscopic structures in some fossils that may have held pigments.

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  7. Humans

    Cigarettes might be infectious

    Science & Society blog: The tobacco in cigarettes hosts a bacterial bonanza — literally hundreds of different germs, including those responsible for many human illnesses, a new study finds.

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  8. Life

    For pipefish, measly Mr. Mom needs help

    In species with pregnant males, females may put something extra into eggs.

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  9. Life

    Carnations had evolutionary bloom boom in Europe

    New species have evolved at a surprisingly rapid pace, new study suggests

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  10. Math

    Slime mold is master network engineer

    Single-cell organism develops food distribution system that is as efficient as the Tokyo rail system; inspires new math model for designing dynamic systems.

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  11. Life

    MRSA bacterial strain mutates quickly as it spreads

    Antibiotic-resistant microbe's detailed family tree reveals roots of the global infection.

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  12. Life

    Protein may be new target for obesity, diabetes therapies

    Molecule regulates flip of a metabolic switch, helps determine how the body uses glucose.

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