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ScienceHealthChimeric Human-Monkey Embryos Kept Alive for a Record 19 Days
Building on previous experiments, an international team of scientists has created chimeric human-monkey embryos, which were kept alive for nearly three weeks. The breakthrough could lead to new ways of testing drugs and generating organs for transplant, but this line of research is raising some ethical concerns. New research in Cell details the experiment, in … Continued
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ScienceBiologyScientists Dive Into Axolotl Genome, Looking for Secrets to Regeneration
Its adorableness aside, the Mexican axolotl is a salamander of particular interest to scientists. On the molecular level, the animal seems to have a cheat code for life: It can regenerate its limbs and vital organs, an ability researchers are desperate to better understand for medical applications. Now, geneticists have gotten a clearer view of … Continued
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ScienceHuman HistoryEarly Humans Were Walking Around With Ape-Like Brains, Study Finds
Humans can be distinguished from other apes in many ways, such as our general hairlessness, our upright bipedalism, and, of course, our powerful brains. But it turns out that our cognitive ability didn’t evolve as early as previously thought, according to new research by an international team of researchers. The team’s findings, published today in … Continued
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EartherConservationEagles Are Filled With Rat Poison
Eagles are majestic, beautiful, and full of toxins that we’ve pumped into the environment. A new study finds that 82% of dead eagles examined between 2014 and 2018 had detectable levels of rat poison in their systems. The study, published on Wednesday in PLOS One, was, happily, made possible by the fact that eagle populations … Continued
By Molly Taft -
ScienceHealthA Dangerous Toxin From Pond Scum Can Go Airborne, Study Finds
A potent toxin released by algae blooms has the potential to become airborne, recent research suggests. In what’s said to be a first, the study found traces of the toxin in the air near pond water in Massachusetts. Though it’s unclear whether this and similar toxins are harmful to people and animals when airborne, the … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceBiologyAirborne DNA Could Help Scientists Find Elusive Animals
A UK-based team says they were able to pull genetic material from the air and correctly identify the species it belonged to, an exciting leap for the field of environmental DNA. The technique of sampling an environment for DNA to figure out what organisms inhabit it, known as environmental DNA or eDNA, is regularly used … Continued
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ScienceBiologyThere’s an Ancient Connection Between Our Saliva and Snake Venom
Humans and other mammals have the same genetic foundations for developing oral venom that snakes have, according to a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This connection was discovered by a research team looking at venom-producing tissue from 30 habus, a pit viper from East Asia. The researchers were … Continued
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ScienceBiologyThese Mutant Rabbits Walk on Two Legs, and Geneticists Now Know Why
An entire lineage of French rabbits has been doing handstands for nearly a century. The acrobatic bunnies are not so much performing a stunt as they are a product of stunted genetics, according to a paper published this week in PLOS Genetics. First discovered in a domesticated rabbit living in a Parisian suburb in 1935, … Continued
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EartherMysterious Bald Eagle Killer Finally Identified
In a new study out Thursday, scientists say they’ve solved the mystery of a neurological disease that’s been killing bald eagles and other birds in the U.S. for over 25 years. The disease appears to be caused by a toxin produced by a species of blue-green algae that grows on an invasive plant—a toxin that … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceBiologyOctopuses Dream in ‘GIFs,’ New Experiment Suggests
Two years ago, a PBS documentary video showed an octopus named Heidi in what appeared to be an active dream state. Her arms twitched as she slumbered, and her skin flipped wildly through all sorts of alien textures. Most dramatically, however, the cephalopod changed colors, flashing in greens and reds like a malfunctioning billboard. Many … Continued
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ScienceHealthSome of Our Brain Cells Get More Active Hours After We Die, Study Finds
Even after we die, some of our brain cells can experience one last and large momentary burst of life, new research out Tuesday suggests. The study found evidence that certain “zombie genes” in our brain cells are active more frequently soon after death, which causes some cells to immensely expand for hours. The findings won’t … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceBiologyFlorida Bans Sale of Invasive Reptiles as Iguanas and Snakes Take Over
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is clamping down on invasive reptiles, making it illegal for Floridians to breed or sell these problematic creatures except in special circumstances. In an effort to protect local ecology, economy, and human health, the state is making it illegal for Floridians to breed or sell such animals as … Continued
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EartherConservationThis ‘Map of Life’ Shows Where Undiscovered Species May Be Lurking
Nine years ago, a team of Yale ecologists mapped out the world’s life, a project that showed biodiversity patterns in geographical context; basically, a heat map of animal life. Now, they’ve gone a step further: mapping the likeliest spots for unknown species to still exist, in the hopes that those animals can be documented before … Continued
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ScienceBiologyArmored Dinos May Have Dug Trenches to Protect Themselves, Fossil Study Suggests
The headless horseman would make fast friends with an Asian ankylosaur; where the former tends to be missing its head, these dinosaurs are often found without their body. In fact, the dearth of ankylosaur bodies has vexed paleontologists, who are eager to learn more about how the hefty herbivores became clubbed-tailed, heavily armored tanks. Now, … Continued
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ScienceHealthMouse Embryos Grow Successfully in Beakers, a Step Toward an Artificial Womb
Quivering with life, the developing mice moved ever-so-slightly in their vials. Just a few days since they were fertilized, the rodent embryos were minuscule—smaller than an Aspirin tablet—but their existence a is monumental feat: they developed in an artificial uterus, a first in early mammalian science and a big step in improving scientists’ understanding of … Continued
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ScienceBiologyFour Generations of Lemurs Have Refused to Hibernate, Until Now
Scientists at the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina say their fat-tailed dwarf lemurs went into hibernation for the first time ever in captivity last winter, mimicking the process their counterparts in the wild undergo regularly. By studying this process up close in our primate relative, the researchers also hope to better understand the human … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceBiology‘Invisible’ Deep-Sea Bacteria Cause Researchers to Rethink Human Immune Systems
Researchers have found microbes in the deep sea that are completely invisible to the human immune system, a somewhat unnerving discovery that suggests our bodies’ seemingly universal ability to recognize bacteria isn’t so all-inclusive. The interdisciplinary team’s research was published last week in the journal Science Immunology. Their fundamental conclusion is that the way our … Continued
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EartherHere’s What Animals Are Up to While They Wait for Their Wildlife Center to Reopen
The animals are waiting for you to come back. After the UK government instituted the country’s third pandemic-fueled lockdown in January, the Wildwood Trust in Canterbury, Kent was forced to close to visitors for the third time since the pandemic began. That put the center, like zoos and other conservation centers around the world, back … Continued
By Molly Taft -
ScienceBiologyThese Slugs Cut Off Their Own Heads When They Want a New Body
Looking like opened pea pods with a lustrous sheen, the sea slugs Elysia cf. marginata and Elysia atroviridis aren’t your average gastropods. First off, they’re members of sacoglossa, a clade of slugs known for taking the algae from marine plants and integrating the chloroplasts from that algae into their own cells, allowing them to get … Continued
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Tech NewsSee What Some of History’s Most Important Scientists Look Like With the DeepNostalgia Treatment
Deepfakes are getting better and better, but instead of wearing Tom Cruise’s face on a golf course, we decided to commemorate some amazing scientists (and one science fiction writer) by bringing them back to fleeting life using DeepNostaglia, a tool created by MyHeritage that breathes movement into old photos.
By John Biggs