Life
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s how mysterious last-resort antibiotics kill bacteria
Scientists are finally getting a grip on how a class of last-resort antibiotics works — the drugs kill bacteria by crystallizing their membranes.
- Life
Certain young fruit flies’ eyes literally pop out of their head
The first published photo sequence of developing Pelmatops flies shows how their eyes rise on gangly stalks in the first hour of adulthood.
- Life
Video reveals that springtails are tiny acrobats
Poppy seed–sized cousins of insects, famed for wild escape leaping, right themselves in mid-falls faster than cats.
- Animals
Deer-vehicle collisions spike when daylight saving time ends
In the week after much of the United States turns the clock back, scientists found a 16 percent increase in crashes between vehicles and deer.
- Microbes
Ancient bacteria could persist beneath Mars’ surface
Radiation-tolerant microbes might be able to survive beneath Mars’ surface for hundreds of millions of years, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Here’s how polar bears might get traction on snow
Microstructures on the Arctic animals’ paws might offer extra friction that keeps them from slipping on snow, a new study reports.
- Animals
Bizarre aye-aye primates take nose picking to the extreme
A nose-picking aye-aye’s spindly middle finger probably reaches all the way to the back of the throat, CT scans suggest.
- Animals
Insect swarms might generate as much electric charge as storm clouds
Honeybees flying over a sensor measuring atmospheric voltage sparked a look into how insect-induced static electricity might affect the atmosphere.
- Animals
Mountain lions pushed out by wildfires take more risks
A study tracking mountain lions showed that after an intense burn, the big cats crossed roads more often, raising the risk of becoming roadkill.
- Psychology
A new treatment for debilitating nightmares offers sweeter dreams
A new study combines standard nightmare disorder therapy with a memory-enhancing technique to create happier dreams and bring greater, lasting relief.
- Health & Medicine
Need a fall read? ‘The Song of the Cell’ offers tales from biology and history
Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book, The Song of the Cell, explores the world of cell biology through the lens of scientists, doctors and patients.
- Microbes
How fungi make potent toxins that can contaminate food
Genetically engineering Aspergillus fungi to delete certain proteins stops the production of mycotoxins that can be dangerous to human health.
