Life

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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Finding health in fragility

    A unifying principle for protein networks' weaknesses could aid development of new drugs.

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  2. Life

    Bisexual cockroach dads

    Male hissing roaches with flexible tastes sire more young.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    How mice smell fear

    Mice may use a cluster of neurons known as the Grueneberg ganglion to detect alarm pheromones.

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  4. Earth

    Deep sea viruses are an unexpected ringer

    Deep-sea vent waters harbor high numbers virus-carrying bacteria. The viruses may actually help the bacteria survive the harsh vent environments.

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  5. Life

    Ground squirrels use ‘armpit effect’

    Hibernating ground squirrels forget who’s who, so thank goodness for the armpit effect.

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  6. Animals

    I, Magpie

    Some magpies recognize themselves in mirrors, indicating that a basic form of self-recognition evolved in one family of birds.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Immune cells show long-term memory

    Survivors of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic still make antibodies against the virus, revealing a long-lived immunity previously thought impossible.

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  8. Life

    Brain boost

    Protein improves old rats’ ability to form new memories.

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  9. Archaeology

    Saharan surprise

    A chance discovery in the Sahara leads to the excavation of a Stone Age cemetery containing remains from two lakeside cultures.

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  10. Ecosystems

    Slave ants rebel

    Species vulnerable to enslavement may evolve ways to fight their captors.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Coastal dead zones expanding

    The number of coastal areas known as dead zones is on the rise. A new tally reports more than 400 of the oxygen starved regions worldwide.

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  12. Life

    Bacteria use poison to make food

    Bacteria from Mono Lake conduct photosynthesis with arsenic, a form of the process that may be a relic of life on Earth before the advent of an oxygen atmosphere.

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