Eukaryotic cells, as illustrated here, evolved from single-celled organisms around 2 billion years ago. (Image: © Shutterstock) A microbe found in the muddy depths of the Pacific Ocean doesn’t look like much other than a blob with tentacles. But this unassuming little organism may hold the secrets to how the […]
Biologists from The University of Manchester have explained for the first time why having a good night’s sleep really could prepare us for the rigors of the day ahead. The study in mice and published in Nature Cell Biology, shows how the body clock mechanism boosts our ability to maintain our […]
MIT chemists have devised a way to observe the transition state of the chemical reaction that occurs when vinyl cyanide is broken apart by an ultraviolet laser. Credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT Screen could offer better safety tests for new chemicals: Using specialized liver cells, a new test can quickly detect […]
Eastern California’s Mono Lake has no outflow, allowing salts to build up over time. The high salts in this carbonate-rich lake can grow into pillars. Credit: Matthew Dillon/Flickr Life Could Have Emerged From Lakes With High Phosphorus Life as we know it requires phosphorus. It’s one of the six main […]
(Image: © Shutterstock) Humans are incredible living machines, with legs strong enough to run marathons and brains smart enough to know that invisible dark matter exists. Our bodies make sure we hear the correct frequencies, send the right immune cells to a paper cut and know when to stop drinking […]
It’s the greatest scientific challenge of our time. How does the human brain, consisting of nearly 100 billion neurons that are each connected to 10,000 others, give rise to consciousness? (Image: © Shutterstock) Explaining how something as complex as consciousness can emerge from a grey, jelly-like lump of tissue in […]
The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station. Credit: James Linighan, Author provided As a scientist investigating climate change, I’m embarrassed by the high carbon footprint I have when I travel to, and work in, Antarctica. Researchers based in the UK regularly take four or five flights to reach the continent and […]
Possible Model for How Biological Polymers May Have Formed during the Origin of Life on Earth. Credit: Bracher Lab, Saint Louis University Uncovering how the first biological molecules (like proteins and DNA) arose is a major goal for researchers attempting to solve the origins of life. SLU researchers found that deliquescent […]
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the polymer network that makes up mucins. Credit: Katharina Ribbeck pecialized sugar molecules called glycans can disarm opportunistic pathogens and prevent infection. More than 200 square meters of our bodies — including the digestive tract, lungs, and urinary tract — are lined with […]
About a quarter of Navajo women and some infants who were part of a federally funded study on uranium exposure had high levels of the radioactive metal in their systems, decades after mining for Cold War weaponry ended on their reservation, a U.S. health official Monday. The early findings from […]