Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
FDA releases guidelines for genetically modified animals
Draft rules lay out policies for approving altered animals, including those used for food.
- Life
First lipid hormone discovered
An omega-7 fatty acid made by fat and liver cells acts as a hormone, even mimicking the health benefits of insulin.
- Climate
Heat waves stunt grassland growth
An abnormally hot year can significantly suppress growth in grasslands, a stifling effect that lingers well into the next year even if temperatures return to normal. It can also hinder how well the grasslands absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Life
Fastest spores in the West (or anywhere)
SEE THE VIDEO: Researchers film a fungus catapulting its spores with an acceleration greater than what astronauts feel.
- Life
Fish glowing red
Plenty of reef creatures fluoresce red, even where seawater absorbs red sunlight.
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- Neuroscience
Breaking the Barrier
A technique combining ultrasound pulses with microbubbles may help scientists move therapeutic drugs across the brain’s protective divide.
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- Life
This bite won’t hurt a bit
A team dissects the physics of a mosquito bite, working to find a way to design gentler needles.
- Paleontology
Dino domination was in the cards, maybe
A new study finds that early dinosaurs coexisted with and were outnumbered by a competing species. Dinosaurs eventually reigned supreme anyway, but perhaps not because they were better.
- Life
Giant honeybees do the wave
Giant bees coordinate and make waves that would rival those in any football stadium. Predators of the bees don’t find it cheering.
