Physiology

  1. Life

    Immune system defects seem to contribute to obesity in mice

    Subtle defects affecting T cells altered the animals’ microbiome and fat absorption, providing hints of what might also be going on in people.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  2. Neuroscience

    Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep

    Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  3. Animals

    Deep-sea fishes’ eye chemistry might let them see colors in near darkness

    An unexpected abundance of proteins for catching dim light evolved independently in three groups of weird deep-sea fishes.

    By Susan Milius
  4. Animals

    Pandas’ share of protein calories from bamboo rivals wolves’ from meat

    The panda gut digests protein in bamboo so well that the animal’s nutritional profile for calories resembles a wolf’s.