Life
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Bacteria may play big role in forming fossils
Bacteria can build a biofilm that preserves a tissue's structure.
- Life
Protein crucial in preventing Parkinson’s
By destroying bad mitochondria, Parkin protects cells
- Life
Mammoth genome approaching completion
Genetic material extracted from the hair of woolly mammoths has revealed new information about the extinct creatures, including how closely related they are to modern elephants.
- Health & Medicine
This is the teenager’s brain on peer pressure
Research shared during the fourth day of the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting remained diverse: What happens in the brain when teenagers feel peer pressure, a study in mice suggesting a new way to treat depression, the best way to relearn walking after a stroke, and the long lasting effects of disrupted sleep.
- Animals
Forensics’ next tool: Hair-collecting caterpillars
First human DNA extraction from hair bits in moth larval case.
- Humans
Moonsleeping bad for spacewalking
Day three of the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting offered news about Down syndrome and sleep cycles.
- Health & Medicine
Neandertals, gut microbes and mail-order ancestry tests
Geneticists weigh in during the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
- Health & Medicine
Diversity of human skin bacteria revealed
First large-scale inventory of microbes charts types, locales of bacteria.
- Life
Supreme Court lifts restriction on Navy sonar testing
Justices overturn restrictions that require Navy to stop using sonar when marine mammals are within 2,200 yards of vessels.
- Ecosystems
Costs of Choked-Up Waters
Scientists tally the economic toll of fertilizing pollutants on water quality.
- Life
Stone Age gal gets hip
Researchers have found an approximately 1-million-year-old fossil pelvis that, in their view, indicates that Homo erectus females gave birth to surprisingly big-brained babies.
- Life
Schools make fish smarter
A study of consensus decision making shows that sticklebacks make wider choices in groups of three or more.
