New technology to speed up the development of more resilient crops
A research collaboration led by The University of Western Australia has created a new technique that speeds up the development of seeds, producing better...
One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years
Accurately predicting biodiversity loss from climate change requires a detailed understanding of what aspects cause extinctions, and what mechanisms may allow species to survive. A...
When frogs die off, snake diversity plummets
Since 1998, scientists have documented the global loss of amphibians. More than 500 amphibian species have declined in numbers, including 90 that have gone extinct,...
Tiny salamander’s huge genome may harbor the secrets of regeneration
The type of salamander called axolotl, with its frilly gills and widely spaced eyes, looks like an alien and has other-worldly powers of regeneration. Lose...
The skin of the earth is home to Pac-Man-like protists
Pac-Man, the open-mouthed face of the most successful arcade game ever, is much more well-known than any of the one-celled organisms called protists, at...
Surprise discovery shakes up our understanding of gene expression
Scientists at University of Chicago have uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality. Rather than directions going one-way from DNA...
Cousin took a DNA test? Courts could use it to argue you are more...
How similar do you think you are to your second cousin? Or your estranged great aunt? Would you like to have people assess your behavior...
The mineral-rich water on early Mars could have been habitable for life
Presently, Earth is the only known location where life exists in the Universe. This year the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three astronomers...
Scientists reveal the giant squid’s full genome
The monstrous giant squid, which can grow to the size of a school bus with eyes as big as dinner plates, is rarely sighted...
Life on earth may start in ‘soda lakes’
Life as we know it requires phosphorus. It’s one of the six main chemical elements of life, it forms the backbone of DNA and RNA...