Life

  1. illustration of human heads
    Neuroscience

    Neuroscientists decoded people’s thoughts using brain scans

    The finding may lead to better communication aids for people who can’t communicate easily. It also raises privacy concerns.

    By Laura Sanders
  2. An overhead photo of a mouse with gray hair on a light blue background.
    Health & Medicine

    Mouse hair turns gray when certain stem cells get stuck

    Stem cells involved in giving hair its color must keep moving and changing maturity levels to prevent graying, a mouse study suggests.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  3. A photo of a South American tapir walking through a green grass field with some bushes in the background.
    Genetics

    Here are 5 cool findings from a massive project on 240 mammal genomes

    A new series of studies on mammal genetics is helping scientists start to answer questions about evolution, cancer and even what makes us human.

    By Meghan Rosen
  4. A close up photo of a toddler laying in a bed with a tube attached to his nose.
    Health & Medicine

    Here’s what we know about upcoming vaccines and antibodies against RSV

    New vaccines and monoclonal antibodies may be available this year to fend off severe disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  5. An overhead photo of a small dog sitting on the lap of a person in a yellow long sleeve shirt working on a laptop.
    Health & Medicine

    Pets and people bonded during the pandemic. But owners were still stressed and lonely

    People grew closer to their pets during the first two years of COVID. But pet ownership didn’t reduce stress or loneliness, survey data show.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  6. A black-and-white headshot of Rosalind Franklin
    Genetics

    What was Rosalind Franklin’s true role in the discovery of DNA’s double helix?

    Two researchers say that Rosalind Franklin knowingly collaborated with James Watson and Francis Crick to discover the molecular structure of DNA.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  7. A Siberian landscape marred by an oil spill
    Climate

    Thawing permafrost may unleash industrial pollution across the Arctic

    As the frozen ground warms due to climate change, industrial pollutants could flow free from thousands of sites across the Arctic.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  8. A photo of a trees in a forest taken from the ground and looking up towards the sky.
    Plants

    Ultrasound reveals trees’ drought-survival secrets

    Scientists used ultrasound sensors and electrical probes to reveal how drought affects the tissues of living trees.

    By Katherine Bourzac
  9. Asian elephant grabbing a banana with her trunk
    Animals

    This elephant peels bananas, but only slightly ripe ones

    Pang Pha, an Asian elephant at Zoo Berlin, probably picked up the skill by observing her zookeeper.

    By Nora Bradford
  10. A photo of a person standing next to a snow mobile and a stack of supplies with tracks in the snow disappearing into the distance.
    Earth

    A massive cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier is teeming with life

    A subglacial river has carved out the cavern beneath the Kamb Ice Stream, a West Antarctic glacier, and may be supplying nutrients necessary for life.

    By Douglas Fox
  11. An image of several sea walnuts floating in dark water.
    Life

    Comb jellies have a bizarre nervous system unlike any other animal

    A 3-D map of the comb jelly “nerve net” reveals fused neurons that lack the space, or synapses, most neurons use to communicate. Did it evolve independently?

    By Jake Buehler
  12. A photo of a northern elephant seal poking its head out of the water.
    Animals

    Northern elephant seals sleep just two hours a day at sea

    The marine mammals have truly awesome stamina for staying awake, sleeping only minutes at a time on months-long trips at sea.

    By Maria Temming