Life

  1. Fossils

    Tiny fossil tells big tale

    Scientists use a single finger bone from ancient, humanlike Denisovans to study their connection to modern people and Neandertals.

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  2. Brain

    Learning in your sleep

    Sleeping people can be taught to make connections between sounds and smells.

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  3. Brain

    Fooling the mind’s eye

    Brain scientists find they have much to learn from magicians and their tricks.

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  4. Animals

    Cool Jobs: Scents of science

    Better understanding of the sense of smell inspires research into everything from whales to electronic ‘noses’

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  5. Animals

    By a whisker

    Hardly a fad: Some facial hair serves important functions, scientists find.

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  6. Animals

    Monkeys’ mistake detector

    Specific brain cells in macaques respond to fellow animal’s error.

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  7. Fossils

    New Jurassic flier

    Amazingly well-preserved fossil depicts a novel flying reptile from the age of dinosaurs.

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  8. Animals

    Python-palooza!

    Monster-sized Burmese python bearing record-number of eggs retrieved in the Florida Everglades.

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  9. Genetics

    DNA hints at ancient cousins

    Scientists find evidence of an extinct humanlike species within modern-day Africans.

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  10. Microbes

    Surprising rabies resistance

    Amazon villagers survive deadly disease carried by vampire bats.

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  11. Climate

    Iron versus climate change

    Metal deposits can promote the growth of ocean algae that gobble greenhouse gas.

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  12. Genetics

    Twins don’t share everything

    Twins carry different flags on their DNA, even from birth.

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