Search Results for: biology
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Agriculture
Mixing up root microbes can boost tea’s flavor
Inoculating tea plant roots with nitrogen-metabolizing bacteria enhances synthesis of theanine, an amino acid that gives tea its savoriness.
By Nikk Ogasa -
Animals
Male dragonflies’ wax coats might protect them against a warming climate
The reflective wax, which cools males on sunny courtship flights, may also armor them against the effects of climate change.
By Jake Buehler -
Math
Scientists find a naturally occurring molecule that forms a fractal
The protein assembles itself into a repeating triangle pattern. The fractal seems to be an accident of evolution, scientists say.
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Health & Medicine
More than 1 billion people worldwide are now estimated to have obesity
A new analysis suggests that the prevalence of obesity has doubled in women, tripled in men and quadrupled in children and adolescents from 1990 to 2022.
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Paleontology
The oldest known fossilized skin shows how life adapted to land
The nearly 290 million-year-old cast belonged to a species of amniotes, four-legged vertebrates that today comprises all reptiles, birds and mammals.
By Nikk Ogasa -
Animals
This snake goes to extremes to play dead — and it appears to pay off
When dice snakes fake their death to avoid predators, those that use a combination of blood, poop and musk spend less time pretending to be dead.
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Science & Society
Geneticist Krystal Tsosie advocates for Indigenous data sovereignty
A member of the Navajo Nation, she believes Indigenous geneticists have a big role to play in protecting and studying their own data.
By Joseph Lee -
Life
Human cancer cells might slurp up bacteria-killing viruses for energy
In the lab, human cancer cells show signs of cell growth after ingesting bacteria-killing viruses, a hint our cells might use bacteriophages as fuel.
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Health & Medicine
Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future
By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius.
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Paleontology
A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory
The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.
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Animals
These bats are the only mammals known to mate more like birds
Male serotine bats have penises too large for penetration. To mate, the animals rub their genitals against each other, somewhat like birds’ cloacal kiss.