Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Low Life: Cold, polar ocean looks surprisingly rich
The first survey of life in deep waters around Antarctica has turned up hundreds of new species and a lot more variety than explorers had expected.
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- Plants
Tiny pool protects flower buds
A rare structure on flowers, tiny cups that keep buds underwater until they bloom, can protect the buds from marauding moths.
- Animals
Sex—perhaps a good idea after all
A family of mites may be the first animal lineage shown to have abandoned sexual reproduction and then reevolved it millions of years later.
- Animals
Egg Shell Game
Birds apparently cheat chance when it comes to laying eggs that contain sons or daughters.
- Animals
Spider blood fluoresces
Among spiders, fluorescence under ultraviolet light seems to be a widespread trait.
- Animals
Living Fossil: DNA puts rodent in family that’s not extinct after all
The Laotian rock rat, which is very much alive, belongs to a rodent family that supposedly vanished 11 million years ago.
- Animals
Killer mice hit seabird chicks
A surveillance video shows a worrisome sight: house mice nibbling to death rare seabird chicks on a remote island breeding colony.
- Paleontology
Forest Primeval: The oldest known trees finally gain a crown
Recently unearthed fossils provide new insights about the appearance of the world's oldest known trees, plants that previously were known only from preserved stumps.
- Paleontology
Ancient Extract: T. rex fossil yields recognizable protein
New analyses of a Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone reveal substantial remnants of proteins that strengthen the link between modern birds and dinosaurs.
- Ecosystems
The Great Turtle Race
This international conservation event involves 11 leatherback turtles that are “racing” toward feeding areas south of the Galapagos Islands. Pick your favorite of these endangered animals and follow its progress, as tracked by satellite, from April 16 to April 29. Go to: http://greatturtlerace.com
- Animals
Too Few Jaws: Shark declines let rays overgraze scallops
A shortage of big sharks on the U.S. East Coast is letting their prey flourish, and that prey is going hog wild, demolishing bay scallop populations.
