Caribou (known as reindeer in Europe) make one of the longest seasonal migrations of land animals, but an individual's propensity to migrate depends on its genetic ancestry, researchers report.
Your microbiome shapes your life. But where did it come from?
The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of hundreds to thousands of microbial species living within the human body. These populations affect our health, fertility, and even our longevity. But how do they get there in the first place? New research reveals crucial details about how the bacterial communities that comprise...
Brainy birds may fare better under climate change
Many North American migratory birds are shrinking in size as temperatures have warmed over the past 40 years. But those with very big brains, relative to their body size, did not shrink as much as smaller-brained birds, according to new research. The study is the first to identify a direct...
A ‘fairly simple’ breakthrough makes accessing stored hydrogen more efficient
A new catalyst extracts hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials easily and efficiently. The process occurs at mild temperatures and under normal atmospheric conditions, without using metals or additives.
Climate drove 7,000 years of dietary changes in the Central Andes
What a person eats influences a person's health, longevity and experience in the world. Identifying the factors that determine people's diets is important to answer the bigger questions, such as how changing climates will influence unequal access to preferred foods. A new study provides a blueprint to systematically untangle and...
January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake provides valuable data for ground failure models
Field surveys conducted in the days after the 7 January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake documented more than 300 landslides and severe liquefaction in southern coastal regions, according to a new study.
Hungry for love: Gut molecule discovered that flips the feeding-to-mating switch
Scientists have identified a molecule released from the gut after a protein-rich meal that switches the focus of fruit flies from eating to courtship. The discovery of Dh31, a type of chemical messenger, opens the door to unexplored areas of gut-to-brain communication.
Cautiously optimistic: Study looks for riskiest tree disease spreaders, finds none
Fungal disease represents one of the greatest threats to tree industries and forests in the United States. They're carried by invasive wood borers from overseas. A pre-invasion risk assessment tested 111 fungi samples extracted from 55 Eurasian beetles. None of the greenhouse-grown oak or pine saplings inoculated with the fungi...
Novel synthetic process for the core structure of the fungal antiviral agent neoechinulin B and its derivatives
The fungus-derived compound neoechinulin B demonstrates promising antiviral activity. To realize its potential as an antiviral agent, however, a viable method for preparing more potent derivatives synthetically is necessary. In a recent breakthrough, scientists from Japan designed a simple route for synthesizing neoechinulin B and its derivatives under mild laboratory...
In a first for ‘sonogenetics,’ researchers control mammalian cells with sound
Scientists have engineered mammalian cells to be activated using ultrasound. The method paves the way toward non-invasive versions of deep brain stimulation, pacemakers and insulin pumps.