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Houses of the future might be built with bacteria – at least partially. It may sound like science fiction, but a Spanish company located in Madrid is working to make that a concrete reality. It all starts with a common type of soil bacterium being. Put it in some soil, provide it with nutrients, and keep the […]
Paleontologists have identified the first known animals that used internal fertilization instead of spawning – armor-coated swimmers, called antiarchs, which lived around 385 million years ago in lakes in what is now Scotland. The discovery is truly monumental since its the earliest known example of sexual dimorphism or differences in appearance between the sexes in the […]
Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, or so the old adage goes, but how different are men and women? I won’t go into debates like whether or not men and women are neurologically the same – it’s a far too exhaustive and exhausting subject for such a short article. Clearly, however, men […]
Whether you enjoy a strong malty taste, or a fruity savor, or even just a subtle aroma in your beer – you have yeast to thank for. Yeast imbues beer with aromatic molecules that account for most, if not all of the final flavor. But why is it that they create all this wide array of […]
It’s common knowledge that babies born out of tall parents will most likely grow to be just as tall, but it’s only recently that scientists report finding most of the genes responsible for height. Information like this could prove to be useful in diagnosing genetic growth deficiencies or, in the not so distant future, genetic manipulation to […]
When people think of sharks, the most immediate response might be jaws, fright or blood, but if you're willing to set prejudice aside you might find that these animals aren't that different from most of us; at least in one important respect: social interactions.
New research suggests that plankton, like this adult brine shrimp, could play an important role in mixing oceans.
Yeast is already used to create two substances widely used to kill pain – beer and wine. Jokes aside, researchers have shown that genetically modified yeast can create morphine, which would remove the need for poppy crops – something which is currently causing widespread issues (including war) in some areas. “Opiates and related molecules are […]
As if dolphins weren’t special enough, scientists have added another quality to the list: they can sense our planet’s magnetic field. A surprising variety of animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field – bees, birds, salmon, frogs, sea turtles, salamanders, lobsters, and rodents; now, you can also add dolphins to that list. French researchers have shown […]
Evolution is virtually ubiquitous throughout the entire world – organisms evolve into different species, there’s nothing new and interesting about that. However, researchers found a surprising and unusual example of evolution – a three way symbiosis evolved into a four way symbiosis, when one bacteria became two different species inside an insect. Wait, let’s go through […]
The heart regularly speeds up or down its beating frequency to adjust to the body’s needs. Even in stable conditions (when you’re not particularly active or your active for a constant time), the amount of time between heart beats is variable. A team of doctors and engineers at Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science have now found […]
Our gut hosts an enormous population of bacteria, each species with its own niche (they feed on certain foods), which outnumbers our own cells 100-fold. Most of these bacteria are good bacteria, though. In fact, you couldn’t survive without most of them! They’re among the best decomposers, breaking down dead and organic matter otherwise impossible […]
Tiny eight legged creatures crawl on all our faces, a new study shows. In other words, if you’re an adult – you have face mites. Face mites are parasitic/commensal creatures; when they are present in large numbers, they can cause an infestation called demodicosis. The mites are usually found in the human hair follicles, normally found in greater numbers […]
When it feels threatened, the hagfish produces a slime which is only 12 nanometers wide, but 15 centimeters long – 10,000,000 times longer than it is wide. It’s not clear exactly what this slime is made of (likely a sugar modification), but its purpose is to make the hagfish slippery and possibly clog the gills of a predator. […]
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say we owe all the wonders of life to photosynthesis – the ability of plants and certain bacteria to convert CO2 into energy (sugars) and food. Scientists have for some time attempted to enhance photosynthesis through genetic manipulation, but it’s only recently that we’re beginning to see these efforts […]
Some wasps decided to build their colony next to the window of Youtube user Vang Tsal. Naturally, he was spooked – wasps are mean, and can be quite difficult to deal with. But instead of panicking and attempting to destroy the hive, he filmed it – and the results are spectacular: The colony now offers […]
At least in one aspect, sharks behave as world class mathematicians – although the cause may be sensibleness more than cleverness. The behavior associated to both mathematicians and sharks is called the Lévy flight. A Lévy flight is a random walk in which the step-lengths have a probability distribution that is heavy-tailed. In other words, it’s a […]
Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus is a 64-meter research vessel currently operated by dr. Robert Ballard, the discovered of Titanic’s shipwreck. Now, Hercules’ camera spotted an extremely elusive deep sea creature — a siphonophore. The siphonophore an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, which also includes jellyfish. Although a […]
A female colossal squid weighing 350 kilograms (771 pounds) was discovered in the Atlantic. As it turns out, the female also had eggs – becoming only the second specimen found with eggs. The colossal squid is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only known member of its […]
As microbes become more and more resistant to antibiotics and cleaning products, it’s crucial that we find better, more efficient way of fending them off. Dr. Samir Mitragotri from the University of California at Santa Barbara has led a team which showed that ionic liquids (ILs), also known as liquid salts, dramatically improve the treatment of microbial […]
Occasionally we’re hit by fever. Nobody likes it, most sane people actually hate it, but it’s important to note that it’s an important part of the healing process. Fever is a result of the immune response by your body to foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria, fungi, drugs, or other toxins. Research showed that it is triggered […]
In an attempt to further out understanding of cell deformation and mechanics, researchers at the Technische Universität München (TUM) have built an artificial cellular model that can change its shape and move on its own. Cells are complex biological objects that exhibit sophisticated metabolic functions. Primordial cells, however, were much simpler in design: just a […]
Cellular biology can be breathtakingly exciting. Just imaging peering through the absolute tiniest forms of life – a whole different universe in itself! Many times, in this cellular universe, you witness chaos, but here’s where Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Vik Muniz and self-described “bacteria enthusiast” Tal Danino come in. The two paired and launched an ambitious […]
We often report how many species around the world are becoming extinct, but it’s heart warming to report from time to time that some conservation efforts really do work. For instance, a new report found that Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animals on Earth, have steadily increased in population around the Californian waters to the […]
A newly found superdinosaur Dreadnoughtus schrani, is the largest known land animal for which mass can be accurately calculated, a recent study concluded. The giant speciment, which isn’t even fully grown, probably measured 85 feet long and weighed about 65 tons. The name literally means “fear nothing”, and the dinosaur has already been nicknamed Dread. It is named […]
A team of scietists from the University of Copenhagen have found a mushroom shaped animal which they believe doesn’t fit in any known subdivision of the animal kingdom. Such a situation has happened only a few times in the past 100 years. Researchers aren’t exactly sure where to fit it, but they have a pretty […]
Either when someone’s late for a date or you need to queue in line, our patience becomes tested. Some people handle the waiting better than others, leading us to the idea that patience is a virtue that differs from person to person. But what is it exactly that helps us remain patient, and why do […]
Researchers have pinpointed the source of a huge environmental threat for AIDS patients – the source of a fungal infection which has been plaguing Southern California for years; it literally grows on trees. The finding was based on the research project of a 13 year old. Cryptococcus gattii, formerly known as Cryptococcus neoformans var gattii, […]
A while ago, we were telling you about the infamous “zombie ant fungus” – a parasitic fungus that reproduces by manipulating the behavior of ants. It’s one of the most gruesome acts in nature – the parasite fungi infect tropical ants, literally taking control of their actions, ultimately leading the infected ant to march to its death […]
Bacteria living in obscure environments use an extremely rare process to harvest energy and produce oxygen from sunlight – but they don’t use visible light, they use far-red light. “We have shown that some cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, can grow in far-red wavelengths of light, a range not seen well by most humans,” said Donald […]
A whole functional organ has been successfully grown in animals for the first time; a group of Scottish researchers created a group of cells which, when transplanted into a mouse, developed into a fully functional thymus – a critical part of the immune system. The findings could lead to a revolution in organ transplant. The […]
Russian researchers who were conducting experiments on the surface of the ISS were absolutely shocked when they found sea plankton, just outside of the space station. Other reports mention that they found them while they were polishing some parts of the ISS, but that’s not really important here: they found real, living, sea creatures in space. Samples […]
A while ago, we were telling you about the lab in Netherlands which artificially created a hamburger, making it the first lab-grown hamburger in the world. Now, a team from California has followed in their footsteps, creating the first cheese that does not originate from milk. A group of biohackers from Counter Culture Labs in Oakland, and BioCurious in Sunnyvale, […]
This bacterium has a lot in common with power companies. Power companies use copper wires to channel electricity (and therefore, electrons), and this bacterium developed a mechanism to do something similar: in the absence of oxygen, it grows nanowires from its own body through which it pushes electrons to nearby rocks. This is how it […]
The difference between a poison and a cure is the dosage – and this could be very well said about this approach. Bio-engineers report that peptides in some venoms bind to cancer cells and block tumor growth and spread and could be effectively used to fight cancer – the only problem is they might also […]
It looks like a painting from Salvador Dali – but Hallucigenia was very much real. Truly one of the most surreal creatures to ever walk the face of the planet, it was finally deciphered and understood (at least partially) by paleontologists, after 4 decades of study. The process discovered not only its position in the […]
A parasitic plant called the dodder, which essentially acts like a 'vampire' upon its unsuspecting prey. A new research found the dodder actually communicates using DNA with its host in order to lower its defenses. A true vampire to the end - it needs an invitation to step in.
If you’re working in a biology lab, you may want to consider firing some of your assistants and hiring some sandcastle worms; they’re pretty good chemists, able to, among others, biosynthesize glue components they use to build the underwater tubular shelters they call home. Now, researchers are creating adhesives inspired from these chemicals that might […]
Scientists introduced Clostridium novyi, a bacteria that causes mild illnesses in humans that typically lurks inside the soil and feces, in cancer tumors and found that these shrank and some cases were destroyed completely. The research suggests that bacteria, when engineered to reduce toxicity, can be a viable fighting tool against cancer, one with less destructive […]
Imaging the fine and intricate structures of blood vessels in the human body is paramount to modern anatomy. By knowing the body in greater detail, scientists are able to devise better treatments. Conventional imaging, however, is limited in how far it can peer through blood vessels. This may be set to change for the better after Chinese researchers […]
Just like squirrels set aside some nuts for winter, so do arctic foxes – they hoard bird eggs and bury them in the Arctic permafrost for when they don’t have enough food. “It appears as if cached eggs are used as a backup for unpredictable changes in lemming numbers,” lead study author Gustaf Samelius of […]
After cleaning the Hudson River, which spills into New York harbor, marine biologists report increased sightings of whales and sharks around the Big Apple’s waters. The cleaner waters now harbor more fish and nutrients, which in turn has led to a surge in numbers. Dolphins and seals are also on the rise. The Hudson River used […]
When you think about fish oil, you probably wouldn’t think of the English countryside – but that’s exactly where scientists are trying to grow it; yep, grow it! They’re using Camelina sativa plants genetically modified to produce long chain omega-3 fatty acids—the primary component of “fish oil.” Things you didn’t know about fish oil Most of the fish […]
In 1944, the Nazis caused widespread famine in Western Netherlands after they blocked food supplies. A group of pregnant women living in the Netherlands, labouring under starvation conditions imposed by a harsh winter and food embargo, gave birth to relatively small babies. When their children grew up, in relative prosperity, to have children of their own their babies were unexpectedly small.
The shutdown of a key protein allows grizzly bears to go through tremendous weight gains without loosing insulin sensitivity. Thus they're never at risk of getting diabetes. What if we could shut this protein down for humans too?
A new study investigated the circumstances under which a 15-year-old kitesurfing male died after a tiger shark attacked him in the South Pacific. Their analysis suggests that attack took place mostly likely because the kitesurfer's motion was confused by the shark with a bird overtaking the water. In light of other similar shark attack cases, the researchers advise any kitesurfing in waters known to harbor sharks should be made with extreme care.
Scientists have managed to make the coloring of a butterfly species evolve from brown to purple in just six generations. This study shows that even complex coloring mechanisms can undergo fast rearrangements, potentially adapting quickly to outside stimuli.
An exceptional Biologists duo who have studying an ecosystem from the Galapagos Islands for the past 40 years have made one of the most important discoveries in evolutionary biology - the birth of a new species!
Mind blowing timelapse video of a Rose of Jericho blooming back to life after being exposed to moisture for just a few hours - also with scientific explanation.
Scientists previously misclassified a golden bat which lives in Bolivia. This new study reemphasizes the importance of museum specimens, which can be used to draw new information about species thought to be understood.
