For The Better

Engineers developed a soft, stretchy ultrasound patch that can be worn on the skin to monitor blood flow through vessels deep inside the body. Such a device can make it easier to detect cardiovascular problems, like blockages in the arteries that could…

As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen before they have experienced sight?

A new tool that enables thousands of tiny experiments to run simultaneously on a single polymer chip will let scientists study enzymes faster and more comprehensively than ever before.

A new study shows that the stiffness of protein fibers in tissues, like collagen, are a key component in controlling the movement of cells. The groundbreaking discovery provides the first proof of a theory from the early 1980s and could have a major im…

The rapid spread of the Alpha variant of COVID-19 in the UK resulted from biological changes in the virus and was enhanced by large numbers of infected people ‘exporting’ the variant around the country, in what the researchers call a ‘super-seeding’ ev…

Scientists have shown that cockatoos, an iconic Australian bird species, learn from each other a unique skill — lifting garbage bin lids to gather food. The research confirms that cockatoos spread this novel behavior through social learning. This beha…

A computational analysis of COVID-19 tests suggests that, in order to minimize the number of infections in a population, the amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of the tests that are used.

Infection with dengue virus makes mosquitoes more sensitive to warmer temperatures, according to new research. The team also found that infection with the bacterium Wolbachia, which has recently been used to control viral infections in mosquitoes, also…

Researchers have developed a way to analyze how individual immune cells react to the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. It could pave the way for new vaccine strategies and provide insights into fighting other infectious diseases.

The touchscreen technology used in billions of smartphones and tablets could also be used as a powerful sensor, without the need for any modifications.

Plastics offer many benefits to society and are widely used in our daily life: they are lightweight, cheap and adaptable. However, the production, processing and disposal of plastics pose a major global threat to the environment and human health. Howev…