Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Earliest birds didn’t make a flap
The feathers of Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis probably were not strong enough to support sustained flight.
- Ecosystems
Spill update: From booms to dispersants
Choppy seas prevailed in the northern Gulf of Mexico on May 13, with even protected waters hostingrough 4 to 5 foot waves, according to the Coast Guard. But three-plus weeks into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and ensuing spill from a BP exploratory well, measures to respond to the catastrophe continued ramping up.
- Life
Eureka, brain makes real mental leaps
Studies of rats reveal neuron activity changes en masse during aha moments.
- 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.
- 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.
- Earth
Archaeopteryx fossil seen in new light
X-ray technique reveals original tissue in the feathers of a primitive bird fossil.
- Life
One ocean, four (or more) killer whale species
A new genetic analysis splits killer whales into multiple taxa.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic switch makes old mice forgetful
Reversing a chemical change restored the animals’ memory-making ability.
- 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.
- Life
Undereducated immune cells get aggressive with HIV
Scientists discover a mechanism that makes some people resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.
- 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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