Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Male spiders have safe(r) sex with siblings
In a cannibalistic species, brothers minimize risk when mating with their sisters.
- Life
BATTLE trial personalizes lung cancer treatment
A new study makes a first step toward personalized chemotherapy.
- Life
Pine pollen gets flight miles
A first-of-its-kind study logs the record to beat for germination after air travel.
- Health & Medicine
Embryo transfer technique could prevent maternally inherited diseases
A new technique transplants healthy nuclear DNA of cells carrying mutated mitochondria.
- Life
Mutation effects often depend on genetic milieu
Genetic background is at least as important as environment, fruit fly research shows.
- Health & Medicine
Mapping the fruit fly brain
A new digital atlas could reveal how 100,000 neurons work together.
- Health & Medicine
Gulf War Syndrome real, Institute of Medicine concludes
U.S. veterans who claim to suffer from Gulf War Syndrome just received powerful new ammunition against arguments that their symptoms are trivial, if not altogether fictional. On April 9, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a report that concludes military service in the Persian Gulf War has not only been a cause of post-traumatic stress disorder in some veterans but also is "associated with multisymptom illness” – as in Gulf War Syndrome.
- Life
Briny deep basin may be home to animals thriving without oxygen
Creatures living deep in the Mediterranean without oxygen would be a remarkable first, biologists say.
- Life
Fruit flies turn on autopilot
High-speed video reveals the aerodynamics behind the insects’ maneuverability.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine works against type 1 diabetes in mouse experiments
Researchers uncover a self-regulating feature of the immune system.
- Life
Eating seaweed may have conferred special digestive powers
Gut microbes in Japanese people may have borrowed genes for breaking down nori from marine bacteria.
- Ecosystems
Pigeons usually let best navigator take the lead
One bird usually leads the flock, but sometimes another gets a turn at the helm.
