Life

  1. Animals

    Parasitic worms sicken people in the mainland United States

    A worm native to Asia has sickened at least 12 people in eight continental U.S. states since 2011, a new report finds.

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  2. Genetics

    The mixed-up world of hybrid animals

    When animals from related species mate, they may produce hybrid offspring. These animals can display a jumble of traits, such as colors, shapes or behaviors.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Crickets for breakfast?

    In a small trial, levels of beneficial gut bacteria rose in young adults who ate a breakfast that included crickets every day for two weeks.

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  4. Brain

    Football and hockey don’t necessarily doom players’ brains to serious damage

    A broad look at the brains and behavior of retired pro football players and hockey players finds no signs of early dementia.

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  5. Animals

    Scientists Say: Larva

    Many insects, amphibians and fish have a life stage after they hatch that looks very different from the animal’s adult form. This life stage has its own name.

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  6. Animals

    Cool Jobs: Sucking up science with mosquitoes

    Mosquitoes are tiny, but the illnesses they spread can be deadly. To fight these germ spreaders, scientists need to get to know mosquitoes better — much better.

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  7. Animals

    Nine big stories you may have missed this summer

    We hope you enjoyed time off from school this summer. But you may have missed some scientific developments, from mega-eruptions to Martian lakes.

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  8. Animals

    Where did all of those king penguins go?

    Île aux Cochons in the southern Indian Ocean was once home to the largest known colony of king penguins. Most of those birds are now gone and no one knows why.

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  9. Earth

    A ‘ghost’ gene leaves sea mammals vulnerable to some toxic chemicals

    Manatees, dolphins and other warm-blooded marine animals can't break down some common pesticides. The newfound reason: Long ago, their genes lost the ability to do so.

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  10. Brain

    Body heat due to exercise may reduce hunger

    Why aren’t animals hungry after a workout? Brain cells that control appetite may sense the exercise heat — and keep you out of the kitchen, a new study finds.

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  11. Animals

    What ‘The Meg’ doesn’t quite get right about megalodon sharks

    A paleobiologist helps separate shark fact from fiction in the new Jason Statham film The Meg.

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  12. Brain

    Soccer headers may hurt women’s brains more than men’s

    Women sustain more brain damage from heading soccer balls than men, a new imaging study indicates.

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