Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Production begins on 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' sequel
Animator Nick Kondo announced on Twitter that production has begun on the cartoon adventure "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2."
Abundance and composition of periphyton show noticeable seasonality under different warming scenario
Periphyton plays an important functional role in lake nutrient cycles and food webs, especially at low and intermediate nutrient levels. Knowledge of how periphyton responds to key drivers such as...
A cell process discovered in fish has important implications for medical research and aquaculture
Autophagy is the process by which cells degrade and recycle their own components. It helps maintain homeostasis which is crucial to proper cell functioning. Among the different subtypes of autophagy,...
Are viruses alive? Perhaps we're asking the wrong question
Viruses are an inescapable part of life, especially in a global viral pandemic. Yet ask a roomful of scientists if viruses are alive and you'll get a very mixed response.
Protein degradation-focused Lycia Therapeutics launches with $50 million from Versant
Using technology from chemical biologist Carolyn Bertozzi's lab, the firm wants to develop drugs that can break down extracelluar proteins
Birds use social networks to pick opponents
Knowing when to fight and when to flee is a big part of many animal societies, including our own.
Moving out early improves squirrels' odds of surviving winter, new study shows
North American red squirrels that strike out earlier to find territory of their own could stand a better chance of surviving the winter months, according to a new study involving...
Disjunct distribution across the equator—a new riffle beetle from Kyushu, Japan
Podonychus gyobu sp. nov., a second species of the genus Podonychus Jäch & Kodada, 1997, hitherto known only to inhabit Indonesia, is reported to have been found in Kyushu, Japan....
When fathers go missing, female songbirds take up the slack
A new study of a migratory songbird shows that when fathers abandon late-season nests during flight-feather molt, the nestlings suffer no ill effects; deserted females effectively double their maternal efforts...
National survey shows different bacteria on cell phones and shoes
The largest study of its kind in the U.S. shows thousands of different types of bacteria living on cell phones and shoes, including groups that have barely been studied by...
Thailand team wins UN access to ESA’s hypergravity centrifuge
ESA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs have selected a team from Mahidol University, Thailand to carry out research using ESA’s hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge. The team...
A nose-horned dragon lizard lost to science for over 100 years has been found
Nearly 130 years ago, Italian explorer Elio Modigliani arrived at a natural history museum in Genoa with a lizard he’d reportedly collected from the forests of Indonesia. Based on Modigliani’s specimen, the striking...
Mysterious Australian Night Parrots may not see in the dead of night
Australia's most elusive bird, the Night Parrot, may not be much better at seeing in the dark than other parrots active during the day.
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.