The First Frost Is the Deepest – New Discovery May Help Us Grow Crops in Fluctuating Climate
The first frost of autumn may be grim for gardeners but the latest evidence reveals it is a profound event in the life of plants….
Biology News
Evolutionary Biologists Just Discovered How Some Lizards Are Able to Breathe Underwater
A team of evolutionary biologists from the University of Toronto has shown that Anolis lizards, or anoles, are able to breathe underwater with the aid…
Supercomputer Simulations Reveal How Dominant COVID-19 Strain Binds to Host, Succumbs to Antibodies
Dominant G-form Spike protein ‘puts its head up’ more frequently to latch on to receptors, but that makes it more vulnerable to neutralization. Large-scale supercomputer…
African Forest Elephants Are Now Critically Endangered – Here’s How to Count Them
Study compared different methodologies using dung, DNA analysis, and camera traps. A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and working closely…
Of Mice and Spacemen: Understanding Astronaut Muscle Wasting at the Molecular Level
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba have sent mice into space to explore effects of spaceflight and reduced gravity on muscle atrophy, or wasting at…
Critically Endangered Iconic Great Apes in Borneo Lost Muscle During Fruit Shortages
Highlights Need to Protect Orangutan Habitat Wild orangutans are known for their ability to survive food shortages, but scientists have made a surprising finding that…
Largest-Ever Effort to Artificially Inseminate Sharks – And the Occasional “Virgin Birth”
It’s a tough time to be a shark. Pollution, industrialized fishing, and climate change threaten marine life, and the populations of many top ocean predators…
“Mindwriting” – Software Is Able to Turn Thoughts About Handwriting Into Words and Sentences
Stanford scientists’ software turns ‘mental handwriting’ into on-screen words, sentences. Call it “mindwriting.” The combination of mental effort and state-of-the-art technology have allowed a man…
Female Monkeys Use Males As “Hired Guns” for Defense Against Predators
Female putty-nosed monkeys use calls just to recruit males when certain predators are detected Results suggest that different “dialects” exist among different populations of monkeys…
MIT’s Comprehensive Map of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome and Analysis of Nearly 2,000 COVID Mutations
MIT researchers have determined the virus’ protein-coding gene set and analyzed new mutations’ likelihood of helping the virus adapt. In early 2020, a few months…
First Cell Atlas of Stony Corals Is Boost for Coral Reef Conservation Efforts
Map reveals existence of specialized immune cells in corals for the first time. Researchers at the University of Haifa, the Weizmann Institute, and the Centre…
Genetic Copycatchers Detect Efficient and Precise CRISPR Editing in a Living Organism
Proof-of-principle research shows that genes can be accurately edited in cells throughout the body. Researchers at the University of California San Diego have laid the…
Horseradish Flea Beetle: Protected With the Chemical Weapons of Its Food Plant
Researchers elucidate how the insect regulates the accumulation of plant toxins via special transporters. When horseradish flea beetles feed on their host plants, they take…
New Turtle Discovered From the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
A new pelomedusoid turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar provides evidence for convergent evolution of suction feeding among pleurodires. We here describe a new…
New Neuroelectronic System Can Read and Manipulate Brain Signals
Columbia team designs high-performance, implantable system that can manipulate brain signals and suppress pathological coupling; successfully tested in epileptic animal models, the new design could…
Building Social Bonds With Beams of Light: Implanted Wireless Device Triggers Mice to Form Instant Bond
First optogenetics-based study of unrestricted social interactions within groups of animals. Northwestern University researchers are building social bonds with beams of light. For the first…
São Tomé Island Has Two Species of Caecilians Found Nowhere Else on Earth
Research adds evidence to century-long scientific debate and reveals how volcanic activity may have driven divergence of the limbless amphibians. The Gulf of Guinea islands…
Thousands of Sharks Illegally Caught in Marine Protected Area in the Indian Ocean
Thousands of sharks have been illegally caught in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Indian Ocean, new research shows. The MPA was created in…
