Why do some species, including humans and killer whales, stop reproducing long before the end of their lives? A new study from Exeter University suggests that older females may gain adaptive advantages by helping to raise their daughters’ calves instead of raising their own.
Researchers from Penn State have found that a class of chemicals formerly thought to be inert may actually be accelerating honeybee mortality.
Deceptively flimsy, sea sponges may just be the key to stronger and more effective material design. Michael Monn and Haneesh Kesari investigated the structure properties of the rod-like spicules that give the sponges their shape and found that their tapered shape makes them 33% less likely to buckle under pressure.
Knots have proven useful since the dawn of mankind. Drawing on this as inspiration, Professor David A. Leigh, along with his team at the University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry, synthesized the most complex chemical knot yet, and believe that it holds many promising applications.
It was once thought fruit flies can process more alcohol than their sister species because of a difference in their genome. Now, a collaboration between evolutionary and molecular biologists is challenging this hypothesis by putting ancient genes in modern fruit flies
As a possible solution to exploding batteries, the Yicui lab at Stanford has developed a new microfiber safety mechanism contained inside the battery.
In Black Hole Blues, Janna Levin, eminent astrophysicist, describes the decades-long project to detect gravitational waves and prove Einstein’s theories of general relativity.
A new whole-lung bioreactor system involving the maintenance and delivery of oxygen to the lungs was developed by Yale Professor of Biomedical Engineering Laura Niklason. This system looks to optimize the processes of growing lungs in bioreactors and enables the real-time monitoring of oxygen intake and cell proliferation in the lung.
A computer program, designed to teach users to differentiate between kinds of woodpeckers, attracted the attention of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for its power to improve teaching technology. Assistant Professor Amin Karbasi has been awarded for his promising research.
Researchers study the guts of insects to uncover how a symbiotic microbe develops a part of the tsetse fly’s immune system. This finding raises the importance of understanding the role of bacterial species in the human microbiome.