For The Better

An updated method for directly observing physical interactions between cells, could allow scientists to one day map every possible cell interaction.

‘Random DNA’ is naturally active in the one-celled fungi yeast, while such DNA is turned off as its natural state in mammalian cells, despite their having a common ancestor a billion years ago and the same basic molecular machinery, a new study finds.

Precision timing and synchronization are crucial for navigation, communication and radar systems. Scientists have built compact chips capable of converting light into microwaves, which could improve these systems. This technology shrinks a tabletop sys…

Epigenetic changes play important roles in cancer, metabolic and aging-related diseases, but also during loss of resilience as they cause the genetic material to be incorrectly interpreted in affected cells. A major study now provides important new ins…

A new tool captures data from an unprecedented 1 million neurons simultaneously, painting a much fuller picture of brain dynamics.

Researchers shed light on archaea, intriguing microbes found in extreme environments but also in the human gut microbiome.

Living in neighborhoods with more white residents and greater lifetime experiences of racial discrimination are linked to increased systemic inflammation during pregnancy among Black women, according to new research.

A link between abnormal blood levels of amyloid — a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease — and subtle changes in brain microstructures on a type of MRI could lead to a new way to detect Alzheimer’s earlier in people with no clinical signs.

A recent study analyzed individuals from diverse backgrounds and identified various genetic clusters involved in a broad range of biological mechanisms that may help explain ancestry-associated differences in type 2 diabetes clinical presentations.

The findings suggest that subtropical seagrasses are less resilient to heavy grazing from marine herbivores, in part because they receive less sunlight relative to their tropical counterparts. As tropical herbivores move into subtropical waters, overgr…

A recent study provides critical insights into the reliability and robustness of patient-derived organoids as a clinical model of pancreatic cancer. The findings reveal that organoids’ gene expression and drug responses are not affected by the brand of…

Open any astronomy textbook to the section on white dwarf stars and you’ll likely learn that they are ‘dead stars’ that continuously cool down over time. Astronomers are challenging this theory after discovering a population of white dwarf stars that s…

Invasive plants can stay dormant for decades or even centuries before rapidly expanding and wreaking ecological havoc, finds a new study.

A new study is providing insight into how different generations are interpreting the use of emojis in their communications, with older adults unsure of how to use them as frequently as younger adults despite understanding their meaning.

In a new study, participants’ levels of consumption of refined carbohydrates were statistically linked with their facial attractiveness as rated by heterosexual volunteers of the opposite sex.

Males and females have differential physiological responses to COVID-19 infections, with males having larger increases in skin temperature, breathing rate and heart rate during an acute infection, according to a new study that used data from wearable d…

Certain factors associated with developing age-related hearing loss differ by sex, including weight, smoking behavior, and hormone exposure, according to a new study.

An injectable hydrogel can mitigate damage to the right ventricle of the heart with chronic pressure overload, according to a new study. In 2019, this same hydrogel was shown to be safe in humans through an FDA-approved Phase 1 trial in people who suff…

Marine biologists have discovered a new species of deep-sea worm living near a methane seep some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

A groundbreaking nanosurgical tool — about 500 times thinner than a human hair — could be transformative for cancer research and give insights into treatment resistance that no other technology has been able to do, according to a new study.