Virginia Tech researchers discovered genes for cellular metabolic cycles in the genomes of giant viruses. In satellite photos of the Earth, clouds of bright green…
Bacteria live in tiny clay-filled cracks in solid rock deep beneath the sea. Newly discovered single-celled creatures living deep beneath the seafloor have given researchers…
Australopithecus afarensis (‘Lucy’) had ape-like brain organization, but prolonged brain growth like humans Scientists have long been able to measure and analyze the fossil skulls…
Sometimes referred to as the “the Methuselah of freshwater fish,” sturgeons and their close relatives are very old from an evolutionary point of view. Fossils…
Stress restructures the brain by halting the production of crucial ion channel proteins, according to research in mice recently published in JNeurosci. Stress harms the brain…
The discovery of a new species of dromaeosaurid — a family of generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that lived during the Cretaceous Period —…
In all human populations, average lifespans are longer for women than for men. Moreover, nine out of ten supercentenarians — that is, people 110 years…
As scientists scramble to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, two recent studies of the virus’ genome reached controversial conclusions: namely, that snakes are intermediate…
Scientists Identify Microbe That Could Help Degrade Polyurethane-Based Plastics A strain of an extremophile group of bacteria is capable of ingesting toxic organic compounds as…
The genetic quest to understand COVID-19 will help us prevent other diseases. How the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 made the leap from animals…
A new global study reveals the extent to which high-yielding rice varieties favored in the decades since the “Green Revolution” have a propensity to go…
Researchers have found that birds can thrive in cities either by having larger brains or by breeding more often. A new study in Frontiers in…
Teeth constitute a permanent and faithful biological archive of the entirety of the individual’s life, from tooth formation to death, a team of researchers has…
Study from international team of researchers, including University of Massachusetts Amherst biologist John Rowan, shows introduced species can restore a lost world. When cocaine kingpin…
How do animals that help their brethren manage to prioritize those most in need? A study publishing March 24, 2020, in the open-access journal PLOS…
Many frogs look like a water balloon with legs, but don’t be fooled. Beneath slick skin, some species sport spines, spikes, and other skeletal secrets….
Using a recently developed fluorescent imaging technique, researchers in the United States have developed high-resolution maps of microbial communities on the human tongue. The images,…
The world’s animal distribution map will need to be redrawn and textbooks updated, after researchers discovered the existence of ‘Australian’ species on Christmas Island. The…