Life

  1. Animals

    Deep-sea expedition led researchers to doomed octopus nursery

    The ill-fated octopods may be a sign that a healthy population is hiding nearby.

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  2. Animals

    Scientists Say: Kakapo

    This is a flightless parrot that lives in New Zealand. Unfortunately, there are only 154 of them left.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Worms in the gut keep mice from getting plump on high-fat food

    Parasites kept mice from gaining weight on a high-fat diet. But receiving transplants of immune cells from these wormy mice also halted weight gain in mice without worms.

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  4. Microbes

    Analyze This: These viruses are behemoths

    Scientists keep finding larger and larger viruses. Just how big can these microbes get?

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  5. Agriculture

    Barnyard science: Check out this fowl research

    New research shows how to store eggs, insulate homes with chicken feathers and slow fires with shells.

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  6. Brain

    Belly bacteria can shape mood and behavior

    Our guts and our brains are in constant communication with the goal of managing a whole lot more than food digestion. Their conversations can affect stress, behaviors — even memory.

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  7. Ecosystems

    A robotic fish could help mangroves grow

    Reforested mangroves don’t always grow well. To figure out why, two teens built a robotic mudskipper to measure the mud.

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  8. Brain

    Not all social media sites are equally likely to provoke anxiety

    Most teens are on social media. Could these sites cause anxiety? A teen checks it out — and finds big differences.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Bad food? New sensors will show with a glow

    Sensors that glow around dangerous germs could be built into packaging to warn people of tainted foods.

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  10. Animals

    Hunting hidden salamanders with eDNA

    The Japanese clouded salamander is an elusive beast. To find a new population, three teens turned to high-tech methods.

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  11. Animals

    ‘Boot camp’ teaches rare animals how to go wild

    Animals raised in captivity cannot safely re-enter the wilds without first understanding how to find food and avoid becoming a predator’s lunch. Scientists are helping some species learn this.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Small swimmers may play huge role in churning the seas

    Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale water movements in the ocean, a new study suggests.

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