Biology
Plants, people and progress for native prairie seeds
Across much of the central United States, there are ongoing efforts to restore native prairie. Returning native plants to the landscape can improve soil health and water quality a…
Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on mirror-image molecules
Henri B Kagan and Kensō Soai awarded prize for discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesisThe Nobel prize in chemistry 2026 has been awarded t…
Moment Karl Deisseroth tells his family he won the Nobel prize in medicine – video
Stanford University has shared video of Karl Deisseroth giving the news to his two daughters and one of his sons on Monday.Deisseroth had spent hours fielding congratulatory calls…
Petal 'windows' affect the abundance of microbes within flowers
Some flowers have petals with small semitranslucent sections. Research in New Phytologist reveals that these "windows" alter the amount of light and heat entering the flower and c…
Biodegradable nanoparticle technology may improve agricultural production
Farmers use a manufactured version of a natural plant hormone called gibberellic acid to improve the health and growth of crops, but it is highly sensitive to heat and light. A st…
Sorghum may help European agriculture face climate change
Research by INRAE and AgroParisTech suggests that global warming could have an overall positive effect on sorghum yields in Europe. Sorghum is a promising alternative to maize in …
New crocodile species discovered in rocks used to build the Great Sphinx
A new species of extinct crocodile from Egypt has been discovered, sharing more than just its home with the Great Sphinx. Herugavialis cairensis was found in the very same rocks u…
From coral reef conservation to climate resilience: Turning Indonesia's marine wealth into global impact
For Dr. Jamaluddin Jompa, the ocean has never been simply a subject of scientific study. He was born in Takalar, a coastal region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and his connection …
Hydrothermal vents supply a geochemical precursor of ATP that could have powered early life
Where did the energy come from to power the chemical origin of life, and how did phosphate come to be the universal energy currency of cells? Biologists from the Institute of Mole…
Hydra loses its immortality after cold triggers switch to sexual reproduction
The freshwater polyp Hydra oligactis is essentially immortal and reproduces asexually by cloning itself. Except when it gets too cold: then the animal switches to sexual reproduct…
Which eggplant farming practices pay off?
Fabrice Diangoné Bi Tra, a doctoral student in the 100 Ph.D.s for Africa program of the UM6P-EPFL Excellence in Africa initiative, has published a new study in Agriculture.
Flexible protein gate controls access to mitochondrial folds, simulations suggest
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mitochondria in our cells churn out energy from the food we eat, which keeps our bodies functioning. Much of this work happens along cr…
Shape-shifting sensory cells may help insects process visual information with less delay
Anyone who has ever tried and failed to swat a fly has experienced the speed of a tiny nervous system. Now, a new review brings together evidence that its secret lies partly in mi…
Diet alone cannot explain differences in gut bacterial communities
Why do the gut microbiomes of people from industrialized and nonindustrialized regions differ? A study by the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with t…
New Zealand's native plant seeds may survive wildfires
Mākaka (native broom) and kōwhai seeds might be able to survive the heat of fires, new research shows. Scientists heated native and exotic seeds in a lab oven to temperatures they…
Viewing honey bee colonies as superorganisms could reshape beekeeping practices
A new study seeks to challenge the conventional view of a honey bee colony. Viewing colonies as superorganisms redefines the fundamental biology of the honey bee colony. These ins…
Meet the long-legged giants that light up the deep ocean
Thousands of meters below the waves off Australia's east coast, far beyond where sunlight can reach, a stunning light show takes place in the dark. The cause? Two species of long-…
From food to fuel, AI helps pinpoint how to grow 'microalgae' at scale
Microalgae (microscopic organisms that use light and carbon dioxide to grow) can be used to make ingredients and food for animals, pigments and potentially renewable fuels. But gr…
Tiny channels between plant cells respond to wound alerts through hydrogen peroxide bursts
When a person falls and gets a cut or a scrape, they often use hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. This molecular compound is also produced within our cells, helping our immune …
Nobel prize in physics 2026: high energy cosmic neutrinos
Second up for the 2026 Nobel Prizes was the award for physics. And this year it went to just one scientist, Francis Halzen. The Belgian physicist won the prize based on his work o…
How invasive Egyptian geese exploit food sources and carry parasites
The Egyptian goose, native to Africa, is considered an invasive species of Europe-wide significance. Researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center and …
Endangered Lantau toads show genetic and call differences that could signal an emerging species
The short-legged horned toad (Boulenophrys brachykolos), listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, is the o…
Warming oceans reshape plankton, potentially leaving fish with less nutritious food
The world is changing. As humans, we tend to focus on what happens on land, but the planet's food systems depend on both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
A symbiotic marketplace: Gutless worms swap essential bacterial partners over time
A typical scene at a local farmers market: Various stalls offer fruit, vegetables and much more. Every customer has their favorite stalls, though these may change occasionally. So…