For The Better

A new reconstruction of the 375-million-year-old fossil fish Tiktaalik — a close relative of limbed vertebrates — used micro-CT to reveal bones still embedded in matrix. The reconstruction shows that the fish’s ribs likely attached to its pelvis, an …

Engineers unlock the power of exceptional points (EPs) for advanced optical sensing. EPs — specific conditions in systems where extraordinary optical phenomena can occur — can be deployed on conventional sensors to achieve a striking sensitivity to e…

A new study calls into question Bergmann’s rule, an 1800s-era scientific principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates tend to be larger than close relatives living in warmer climates.

The Common Loon, an icon of the northern wilderness, is under threat from climate change due to reduced water clarity, according to a new study. The study followed up an earlier paper that showed substantial reproductive decline in the author’s study a…

Researchers developed a foundational language model to decode mRNA sequences and optimize those sequences for vaccine development. The tool shows broader promise as a means for studying molecular biology.

A research team has built a genetic reference maps for short lengths of DNA repeated multiple times which are known to cause more than 50 lethal human diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease and multiple cancers.

The study underscores the crucial role of microbes in maintaining coral reef health, akin to the human gut microbiome. Hurricanes and disease outbreaks affect coral reef water microbial communities, leading to changes that may support further reef decl…