Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Ancient DNA links an East Asian Homo sapiens woman to early Americans
Genetic clues point to a Late Stone Age trek from southwestern China to North America.
- Neuroscience
Herminia Pasantes discovered how taurine helps brain cells regulate their size
Mexican scientist Herminia Pasantes spent decades studying how nerve cells regulate their size and why it’s so vital.
- Paleontology
50 years ago, the dinosaurs’ demise was still a mystery
In 1972, scientists blamed dinosaur biology for the reptiles’ demise. Years later, researchers ID’d the real killer: an apocalyptic asteroid.
- Paleontology
Mammal ancestors’ shrinking inner ears may reveal when warm-bloodedness arose
An abrupt shift in inner ear shape of mammal ancestors 233 million years ago, during a time of climate swings, points to evolution of warm-bloodedness.
- Animals
These huntsman spiders do something weird: live together as a big, happy family
Five unusual species of spider moms let youngsters live at home way past the cute waddling baby phase.
- Life
The top side of an elephant’s trunk stretches more than the bottom
New research on elephant trunks could inspire different artificial skins for soft robots.
- Animals
Do gophers farm roots? It’s not as clear as viral articles claim
Pocket gophers aerate and fertilize the soil in a practice that encourages rudimentary food production, researchers claim. But not everyone agrees.
- Tech
This octopus-inspired glove helps humans grip slippery objects
The human hand, for all its deftness, is not great at grasping slippery stuff. A new glove aims to change that.
- Animals
Tardigrades could teach us how to handle the rigors of space travel
Tardigrades can withstand X-rays, freezing and vacuum. Now researchers are learning how they do it, with an eye toward human space travel.
- Environment
Flower shape and size impact bees’ chances of catching gut parasites
Bumblebees have higher chances of contracting a gut parasite from short, wide flowers than from blooms with other shapes, experiments show.
- Health & Medicine
The flowery scent of a Zika or dengue infection lures mosquitoes
Mice and humans infected with dengue emit acetophenone, attracting bloodsucking mosquitoes that could then transmit the viruses to new hosts.
- Plants
This pitcher plant species sets its deathtraps underground
Scientists didn’t expect the carnivorous, eggplant-shaped pitchers to be sturdy enough to survive below the surface.
