They could be the most dangerous liaisons ever caught on camera. Time-lapse microscopy has captured severed DNA strands in the act of pairing up with partners from the wrong chromosomes – a process with links to cancer. Image: Vassilis Roukos
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If there was ever a study not to lose sleep over, it’s this one. People deprived of a good night’s rest are more likely to experience changes in brain activity that can increase the urge to eat high-calorie foods. There may be an evolutionary explanation. Image: Klara Kim
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Humanity’s dramatic race across the Old World after it left its African cradle has been told countless times. But for a true sense of the rapidity of events, look no further than the Y chromosome. The most comprehensive analysis of the Y yet shows that three key human groups appeared within just 150 years. Image: shabzillaa
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Even crocodiles need their five a day, it seems. After a routine analysis of American alligators in Florida revealed fruit including pond apples in their stomaches, researchers hunted through the scientific literature for similar reports. They found that at least 13 of the 23 living crocodilian species are fruit eaters. Image: s_pixels
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Sitting cross-legged, a Mona Lisa half-smile playing on her lips, the Llullaillaco Maiden looks at peace. When she was unearthed in 1999, the lump of coca in her teeth and her icy mountaintop tomb were the only clues that she was part of an Inca child sacrifice ritual 500 years ago. Image: José Fontanelli
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