Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
A disinfectant made from sawdust mows down deadly microbes
Antimicrobial molecules found in wood waste could be used to make more sustainable, greener disinfectants.
- Animals
Scientists vacuumed animal DNA out of thin air for the first time
The ability to sniff out animals’ airborne genetic material has been on researchers’ wish list for over a decade.
- Genetics
A genetic analysis hints at why COVID-19 can mess with smell
People with some genetic variants close to smell-related genes had an 11 percent higher risk of losing their sense of taste or smell.
- Animals
Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans
Syria’s 4,500-year-old kungas were donkey-wild ass hybrids, genetic analysis reveals, so the earliest known example of humans crossing animal species.
- Animals
The largest group of nesting fish ever found lives beneath Antarctic ice
Researchers stumbled upon a fish breeding colony of unprecedented size, spanning a territory slightly larger than Baltimore.
- Animals
Female dolphins have a clitoris much like humans’
The similarities suggest female dolphins experience sexual pleasure, which may explain why the species is so randy all the time.
- Animals
Here’s what goldfish driving ‘cars’ tell us about navigation
When measuring intelligence, the saying goes, don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. But what about its ability to drive a vehicle?
- Paleontology
See stunning fossils of insects, fish and plants from an ancient Australian forest
Thousands of fossils at an Australian site show a rare glimpse into the continent’s wetter history over 11 million years ago.
- Microbes
Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics
A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.
- Neuroscience
‘Feeling & Knowing’ explores the origin and evolution of consciousness
In the book Feeling & Knowing, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio suggests that consciousness evolved as a way to keep essential bodily systems steady.
- Animals
Here’s how spider geckos survive on Earth’s hottest landscape
An analysis of the stomach contents of Misonne’s spider geckos shows there are more critters in the heart of Iran’s Lut Desert than meets the eye.
- Life
Here are our favorite cool, funny and bizarre science stories of 2021
These are some of the fun science stories from this year that we couldn’t wait to talk about with friends.
