News
- Animals
These sea creatures can fuse their bodies
A species of comb jelly can fuse its body with another jelly after injury. Some of the pair’s body functions then synchronize.
- Genetics
The discovery of microRNA wins the 2024 physiology Nobel Prize
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun found a new principle of gene regulation essential for all multicellular organisms.
- Oceans
A transatlantic flight may turn Saharan dust into a key ocean nutrient
Over time, atmospheric chemical reactions can make iron in dust from the Sahara easier for organisms to take in, helping to create biodiversity hot spots.
- Animals
Some tadpoles don’t poop for weeks. That keeps their pools clean
Eiffinger’s tree frog babies store their solid waste in an intestinal pouch, releasing less ammonia into their watery cribs than other frog species.
- Astronomy
Barnard’s star has at least one planet orbiting it after all
After decades of searching, a telltale gravitational wobble points to an exoplanet orbiting the nearby red dwarf every 3.15 days.
- Health & Medicine
An mRNA vaccine protected mice against deadly intestinal C. difficile bacteria
An mRNA vaccine that targets several aspects of C. difficile’s ability to cause severe disease prevented major symptoms and death in mice.
- Health & Medicine
Brain-controlled bionic limbs are inching closer to reality
Bionics engineers typically view biology as something to be worked around. “Anatomics” engineers the body to be part of the system.
- Neuroscience
Scientists have traced all 54.5 million connections in a fruit fly’s brain
By tracing every single connection between nerve cells in a single fruit fly’s brain, scientists have created the “connectome,” a tool that could help reveal how brains work.
- Physics
Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays
A thunderstorm seen in gamma-ray vision is a complex, frenetic lightshow when viewed from above the clouds.
- Health & Medicine
A hurricane’s aftermath may spur up to 11,000 deaths
Hurricanes like Helene may indirectly cause deaths for years. Stress, pollution and a loss of infrastructure could all contribute to tropical cyclone fatalities.
- Animals
Dolphins’ open-mouth behaviors during play are like smiles, a study claims
Experts urge caution in calling bottlenosed dolphins’ gesture a humanlike “smile,” but agree it seems to be important for how the animals communicate.
- Animals
Coyotes have the face muscles for that ‘sad-puppy’ look
The ability to make heart-melting stares may not be the fruit of dog domestication if their still-wild cousins have the power to do it too.
