A team of researchers at the College of Science at George Mason University has detected 48 antimicrobial peptides in the blood plasma of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), the largest living lizards. The discovery could lead to the development of new drugs capable of combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Komodo dragon (Varanus …

According to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, fructose is converted in the human brain from glucose. The finding, published in the journal JCI Insight, raises questions about fructose’s effects on the brain and eating behavior. Fructose, a simple sugar, is generated in the human brain, according …

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, dwindling populations created a ‘mutational meltdown’ in the genomes of the last wooly mammoths, which had survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until about 3,700 years ago. This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth. Image …

As Cassini continues its ring-grazing orbits, diving just past the outside of Saturn’s F ring, the outermost discrete ring of the planet, it is tracking several small objects there. This image of the object F16QA was obtained using Cassini’s narrow-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2017, at a distance of 610,000 …

Using mid-infrared data from the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, a research team led by Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara, Subaru scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, has measured the brightness and temperatures of Saturn’s main rings. This is a three-color composite image of Saturn and its rings taken January 23, 2008 …

“Like a summer’s evening here on Earth just after sunset. A faint blue glow follows the Sun below the horizon — the only bit of color within an otherwise black sky,” Tanguy Bertrand imagines a view from the surface of Pluto, a picture more fully realized following recent man-made visitors …

Conversational AI is pushing deeper into enterprise with Workfit, a new startup promising to make conference call follow-ups and mid-meeting CRM updates as easy as playing a song or checking the weather on Google Home or Amazon Echo. Battery Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Salesforce Ventures and a number of angels joined …

Uber’s SVP of engineering, Amit Singhal, left the company earlier today after Uber CEO Travis Kalanick asked him to step down, Recode reports. According to Recode, Singhal failed to disclose a sexual harassment allegation made against him at former employer Google during the hiring process. This comes after Uber’s hell of a …

Boston Dynamics’ wheeled Handle robot received much fanfare earlier this month when DFJ partner Steve Jurvetson slipped us an early video from a company Keynote. Today we have more details on Handle in the form of a shiny HD video. We already knew Handle could manage some pretty sick hurdles …

The de facto head of Samsung, Jay Y. Lee, is facing the potential of years behind bars after South Korean prosecutors said today that they intend to indict him on bribery charges, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lee was arrested earlier this month on bribery, embezzlement, and perjury charges related to giving $37 million …