Biology
Essential oil sprays kill cockroaches on contact but offer little lasting control
A German cockroach races across a kitchen floor. Someone grabs a bottle of essential oil spray, soaks the insect and watches it die. The product worked, but a new University of Ke…
Climate warming can slow how tree roots feed soil microbes
A plant's roots do much of their work out of sight, pulling in water and nutrients and holding the plant in place. That makes it hard to see how plants respond when conditions und…
Spiny dogfish blood contains a hormone long thought absent in sharks
Cortisol is a hormone that helps humans and many other animals regulate their energy use and respond to changing conditions. For a long time, sharks and rays were believed to rely…
Replanted landscapes can look restored while soil fungi still lag behind
With up to 75% of the world's soils degraded, restoration projects try to reestablish functional and biodiverse environments to secure adequate food production, biodiversity, clim…
Finding their sense of direction: Cell movement helps tissues establish polarity
From the hairs on our arms to the microscopic sensory structures of the inner ear, many tissues in the body are built with a clear sense of direction. To build these structures th…
Adaptive molecular convergence more common than previously thought, distant jellyfish relatives reveal
A new study has found that adaptive molecular convergence—the process by which distantly related or unrelated species evolve the same genomic changes—is not as rare as previously …
No DREAM, fewer offspring: Protein complex may play key role in plant fertility
A protein complex known as DREAM that normally puts the brakes on genes may also be crucial for reproduction in plants, according to new research published in Science Advances.
Machine learning analysis of gene regulation reveals new dimension of biological variability
Changes in our genes affect health risks from heart disease to cancer, but how those genes are turned on and off is just as crucial to health. What's more, almost all genes occur …
Ancient fungus unlocks secret support system in major food crops that could transform farming practices
Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering mustard plant used worldwide as the primary genetic model in plant biology, was long believed incapable of forming relationships with under…
Wind emerges as overlooked factor in ecosystems' carbon uptake and water loss
Wind does more than sway trees. It also plays an important role in determining an ecosystem's water-use efficiency—defined as the amount of carbon an ecosystem absorbs per unit of…
AI designs working molecular scissors that recognize and cut selected protein targets
Proteases are naturally occurring enzymes that break down proteins into peptides and even single amino acids. They are useful in medicine and industrial processes, where they clea…
AI reveals a shared language guiding cell development
As an embryo develops from a small cluster of stem cells, those once "blank slate" cells begin to take on more specialized roles like brain, liver or muscle cells and organize the…
The same immune cells play opposing roles in tissue regeneration's balancing act
In a study of fingertip regeneration, a team led by JAX senior research scientist James Godwin found that some immune cells in mice can attack and kill cells needed to rebuild bon…
The force behind our strength: How mechanical processes regulate muscle development
Skeletal muscles grow and regenerate as individual precursor cells—called myoblasts—fuse into long fibers from which mature muscle fibers develop. How they coordinate this process…
What land crabs reveal about evolution's repeats
How can bodies adapt to survive environments completely different from the ones they evolved for?
Elon Musk reveals ‘world’s first flying car’ at Tesla event
The Tesla Roadster 2 drove up a curved ramp before using SpaceX rocket thrusters to fly, flip and landElon Musk has revealed Tesla’s latest model, which he claims will be the worl…
Whales take different routes but still reach dinner on time
Some travelers take the scenic route. Others step on the gas and head straight for the destination. New research suggests southern right whales do much the same when crossing the …
Endangered species in Canada face extensive delays receiving protection
For more than 20 years, Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) has protected wildlife that are at risk of being lost from Canadian lands and waters. Once a species is listed as extir…
A rare family of barn owls moved into Manhattan's Upper West Side. New Yorkers are captivated
Manhattan's Upper West Side has been reveling in the company of its latest celebrities: A family of barn owls nested in a water tower atop a building near Central Park.
Can extra weight weigh on your dog's brain?
Scientists have learned a lot about what happens to the human body as we age. But there's still much to learn about how other species age, including dogs. Even carrying extra weig…
Newly discovered viruses reveal an evolutionary missing link
Researchers at the University of Miami have identified a group of previously unknown viruses that bridge an evolutionary gap between viruses and cellular protein compartments, a d…
Imperial woodpecker returns to life as a detailed digital specimen
Researchers have created a detailed, animated 3D model of the imperial woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis), a spectacular bird that has not been confirmed in the wild since 1956. …
Food, fear and physics help explain group behavior from plankton to whales
The open ocean is a dynamic environment, where food is patchy, predators are plentiful, and oceanographic conditions change constantly. Life in the pelagic environment—the offshor…
Nearly half of reef-building coral species face higher risk of extinction
A University of Portsmouth scientist has helped lead a major global study, which finds that 44% of the world's reef-building coral species are now threatened with extinction—and w…