Life
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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Health & MedicineCancer fighting green tea may have a dark side
This herbal remedy can short-circuit one of the few useful therapies for largely incurable blood cancers.
By Janet Raloff -
GeneticsDog gene heeds call of the wild
Domesticated dogs passed a gene for dark fur color to their wild cousins.
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LifeCaterpillar noise tricks ants into service
Sneaky interlopers mimic the “voice” of an ant queen to get royal treatment from the colony. (Audio included.)
By Susan Milius -
EarthAnimal ancestors may have survived ‘snowball Earth’
Chemical fossils in Precambrian sedimentary rock push back the first date for animal life.
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LifeEarliest whales gave birth on land
Recently discovered fossils of a protowhale help fill in gaps in the land-to-water transition.
By Sid Perkins -
ChemistryNonstick chemicals linked to infertility
Featured blog: Infertility doubled in women who had high concentrations of commercially produced nonstick chemicals polluting their blood.
By Janet Raloff -
LifeNemo could get lost again as seawater approaches acidity
Reef fish raised at a seawater pH expected for the year 2100 don't smell their way around normally.
By Susan Milius -
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LifeWhipping fluids along in microlabs
Researchers have detailed one way for hairlike structures to drive liquid in a "lab on a chip."
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LifeSerotonin turns shy locusts into cereal killers
Serotonin can turn solitary locusts into swarming biblical-scale crop destroyers.
By Susan Milius -
LifeTriceratops may have been headbangers
Lesions on Triceratops fossils are attributed to head-to-head combat in a new study.
By Sid Perkins -
LifeA honeybee tells two from three
Honeybees can generalize about numbers, at least up to three, a new study reports.
By Susan Milius