research

A line of immortal cells, supposedly from a breast cancer patient, turned out to be from a type of skin cancer. The mix-up wasn't discovered until experiments around the world had been contaminated.

Scientists have published thousands of studies using immortal cell lines, but in many cases the cells in the experiments have been misidentified or contaminated. The problem could be avoided easily.

Dogs pay close attention to the emotion in our voices, but what about the meaning of words? A clever experiment with 250 canines shows that dogs understand more of our speech than previously thought.

Vultures consume toxic bacteria that would sicken or kill humans. Stouter immune systems, colonies of helpful microbes and potent stomach acid may help the carrion eaters gorge with abandon.