For The Better

Scientists report significant progress in cultivating nephron progenitor cells (NPCs), the cells destined to form the kidney’s filtration system, the nephrons. NPCs hold immense promise for understanding kidney development, modeling diseases, and disco…

A new type of bioplastic could help reduce the plastic industry’s environmental footprint. Researchers have developed a biodegradable form of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filled with bacterial spores that, when exposed to nutrients present in compo…

Loneliness in adulthood follows a U-shaped pattern: it’s higher in younger and older adulthood, and lowest during middle adulthood, reports a new study that examined nine longitudinal studies from around the world. The study also identified several ris…

A study of body size in leaf-nosed bats of the Solomon Islands has revealed surprising genetic diversity among nearly indistinguishable species on different islands.

Researchers have successfully used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b.

Researchers have discovered over a hundred new regions of the human genome, also known as genomic loci, that appear to influence a person’s blood pressure. In total, over 2,000 independent genetic signals for blood pressure are now reported, demonstrat…

An estimated 168 billion gallons of wastewater — or produced water — is generated annually by the Permian Basin fracking industry, according to a 2022 report. The major waste stream has proved both difficult and costly to treat because of the chemica…

Researchers have found a way to better control the preclinical generation of key neurons depleted in Parkinson’s disease, pointing toward a new approach for a disease with no cure and few effective treatments.

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently produce different kinds of seed oil that it otherwise wouldn’t make. While the engineering is proof-of-conc…

3D microscopes are used in applications from the life sciences to semiconductor manufacturing. Now engineers are developing patented and patent-pending innovations making them work faster to capture even more 3D images and less expensive to manufacture.

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking — a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion.

Electric bicycle rebates have exploded in popularity in North America as transportation planners try to get people out of their cars and into healthier, more climate-friendly alternatives. However, questions remain: Are new cycling habits sustainable? …

How did North America’s saber-toothed cats hunt without breaking their unwieldy saber-like canines, which are vulnerable to sideways bending stresses? A paleontologist provides mechanical evidence that during adolescence, when young cats were learning …