Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Scientists lament 'Humpty Dumpty' effect on world's spectacular, rare wildlife
Some of the world's largest, most spectacular and unheralded mammals are silently slipping away, species like Tibetan wild yaks and Patagonia's huemul, Bhutan's takin and Vietnam's saola. Even Africa's three...
Biomedical studies are including more female subjects (finally)
Biomedical science has historically been a male-dominated world — not just for the scientists, but also for their research subjects. Even most lab mice were male (SN: 6/18/19). But now, a new...
Many factors may contribute to steep, decades-long muskrat population drop
Muskrat populations declined sharply across North America over the last 50 years or so, and wildlife scientists have struggled to understand why. A research team investigated whether pathogens, parasites, environmental...
Ontario doubling limit on gatherings, more businesses to reopen in next stage of COVID-19 recovery plan
Ontarians will soon be allowed to gather in groups of up to 10 and many more businesses and services will be allowed to begin operating again as part of the...
Column: How a retracted research paper contaminated global coronavirus research
Major retractions on coronavirus research show something is rotten in scientific publishing
Engineers put tens of thousands of artificial brain synapses on a single chip
MIT engineers have designed a "brain-on-a-chip," smaller than a piece of confetti, that is made from tens of thousands of artificial brain synapses known as memristors—silicon-based components that mimic the...
Milkweed, only food source for monarch caterpillars, ubiquitously contaminated
New evidence identifies 64 pesticide residues in milkweed, the main food for monarch butterflies in the west. Milkweed samples from all of the locations studied in California's Central Valley were...
New books present the PhyloCode, an evolution-based system for naming organisms
Move over, Linnaeus: There's a new way of naming organisms.
Household cats can catch COVID-19 from humans, CDC reports
Cats can catch the new coronavirus from humans, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whether or not pets can pass the...
Scientists find gene that reduces a plant's pollen count
Researchers have discovered a gene that lowers the number of pollen grains produced by a plant's flower.
New technique pinpoints locations of individual molecules in their cellular neighborhoods
Scientists have married two of today's most powerful microscopy techniques to make images that pinpoint, for the first time, the identities and precise locations of individual proteins within the detailed...
Scientists engineer one protein to fight cancer and regenerate neurons
Our lungs, bones, blood vessels and other major organs are made up of cells, and one way our bodies keep us healthy is by using protein messengers known as ligands...
Airport parking garage becomes drive-through art gallery
An airport parking garage in Germany has been converted into a drive-through art gallery, displaying about 300 works in a way that complies with coronavirus-inspired social distancing guidelines.
Temperate insects as vulnerable to climate change as tropical species
In previous research, it has been assumed that insects in temperate regions would cope well with or even benefit from a warmer climate. Not so, according to researchers. The earlier...
Ultrathin nanosheets separate harmful ions from water
An international research team has created an ultrathin membrane with high porosity that can filter potentially harmful ions from water.
Most protected areas are vulnerable to invasive species
New research suggests many wildlife preserves and national parks are vulnerable to invasion by non-native plants and animals.
'Social distancing' saves frogs: New approach to identify individual frogs noninvasively
Globally, 41% amphibian species are regarded as threatened with extinction. However, when it comes to the case of India, the majority of the species falls in the Data Deficient group,...
Researchers restore neural connections in zebra fish
Harvard University researchers have developed an engineering technique to precisely control the direction that neurons grow their axons, cable-like structures that allow nerve cells to connect with each other. In a zebrafish model,...
Protected areas worldwide at risk of invasive species
Protected areas across the globe are effectively keeping invasive animals at bay, but the large majority of them are at risk of invasions.
Scientists propose new naming system for uncultivated bacteria and archa
The long-standing rules for assigning scientific names to bacteria and archaea are overdue for an update, according to a new consensus statement backed by 119 microbiologists from around the globe.
Recycling old genes to get new traits: How social behavior evolves in bees
A team working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found evidence to support a long-debated mode of evolution, revealing how evolution captures environmental variation to teach old genes new...
First systematic report on the tug-of-war between DNA damage and repair
A collaborative project between the Center for Genome Integrity, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), and the Dundee School of Life Sciences, the EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute...
Virus DNA spread across surfaces in hospital ward over 10 hours
Virus DNA left on a hospital bed rail was found in nearly half of all sites sampled across a ward within 10 hours and persisted for at least five days,...
Many factors may contribute to steep, decades-long muskrat population drop
Muskrat populations declined sharply across North America over the last 50 years or so, and wildlife scientists have struggled to understand why. A Pennsylvania research team investigated whether pathogens, parasites,...
Ultrathin nanosheets separate ions from water
In a world-first, an international research team, led by Monash University and ANSTO, has created an ultrathin porous membrane to completely separate potentially harmful ions, such as lead and mercury,...
Using near-infrared light to 3-D print an ear inside the body
A team of researchers with members from several institutions in China, one in the U.S. and one in Belgium, has developed a method for 3-D printing an ear inside of...
How a fungus turns ants into zombies
Researchers have elucidated the molecular mechanism of the fungus that turns ants into living zombies. The fungus specifically affects the ants' neurobiology, odor perception and biological clock. The Utrecht microbiologist...
Can we avoid an 'insect apocalypse' with a new appreciation for creepy-crawlies?
A new study looks at the global health of insect populations, and a new book calls for us to re-think our relationship with bugs in order to help save them.