Scientists Just Tried Growing Human Kidneys in Pigs
In a first, researchers in China have used pigs to grow early-stage kidneys made up of mostly human cells. The advance is a step closer...
Tag : biology
In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land
At first glance, the grit crust could seem like a routine example of what researchers call a biological soil crust, or “biocrust”—a community of coexisting...
Coming Soon Near You: Bears
Steps away from the public restrooms in Yosemite Village, a buzzy stop in Yosemite National Park’s iconic valley, sits a brown metal dumpster. Visitors reach...
A Secret Key to Saving Species Is Blowing in the Wind
Every living thing spreads an invisible signature across its landscape, whether it’s a badger ambling through the grass, an oak growing in the forest, or...
Gene Expression in Neurons Solves a Brain Evolution Puzzle
The neocortex stands out as a stunning achievement of biological evolution. All mammals have this swath of tissue covering their brain, and the six layers...
Your Brain Uses Calculus to Control Fast Movements
A mouse is running on a treadmill embedded in a virtual reality corridor. In his mind’s eye, he sees himself scurrying down a tunnel with...
Turns Out Fighting Mosquitoes With Mosquitoes Actually Works
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is not just a nuisance—it’s a known carrier of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Distinguished by the black and...
A New Explanation for How Fireflies Flash in Sync
A similar scenario played out in the 1990s, when a Tennessee naturalist named Lynn Faust read the confidently published assertion of a scientist named Jon...
A Wheel Made of ‘Odd Matter’ Spontaneously Rolls Uphill
In a physics lab in Amsterdam, there’s a wheel that can spontaneously roll uphill by wiggling. This “odd wheel” looks simple: just six small motors...
Electric Fish Genomes Reveal How Evolution Repeats Itself
Along the murky bottom of the Amazon River, serpentine fish called electric eels scour the gloom for unwary frogs or other small prey. When one...