Science

  The history of the human family is not as straightforward as you might think. While there’s just one species of human alive today, that was not the case at various points in the past. Studying the genetic markers floating around the Homo sapiens DNA pool can shed light on …

A team of physicists led by the University of British Columbia has demonstrated a novel way to precisely control electrical currents by leveraging the interaction between an electron’s spin and its orbital rotation around the nucleus. An artist’s impression of the dissolving of the electronic ‘traffic jam:’ the red atoms …

Bacteriophages — viruses that infect bacteria — are considered distinct from cellular life owing to their inability to carry out most biological processes required for reproduction. Typically, they have small genomes and depend on their bacterial hosts for replication. Now, an international team of scientists has discovered 351 new species …

Two members of a new class of glycopeptide antibiotics — the previously known glycopeptide antibiotic complestatin and a newly-discovered compound called corbomycin — have a unique mechanism of action against bacteria, according to a paper published in the journal Nature. TEM image of Bacillus subtilis grown in corbomycin shows a …

Scientists have long known that immune cells migrate to the site of an infection, which individuals experience as inflammation. Now, a team of researchers at the University of Washington and Northwestern University has uncovered evidence that this gathering is not just a consequence of immune activation; immune cells ‘count’ how …

Like giraffes, lions, hyenas and grey kangaroos, female Burrunan dolphins (Tursiops australis), a species of bottlenose dolphin endemic to southern Australian coastal waters, form social bonds with kin and other females in similar reproductive condition, while maintaining moderate and loose social bonds with some same-sex individuals, according to new research …

A new species of tyrannosaurine dinosaur that lived about 79.5 million years ago (Cretaceous period) has been identified from fossils found in Alberta, Canada. Thanatotheristes degrootorum. Image credit: Julius Scotonyi, Royal Tyrrell Museum. “We are thrilled to announce the first new species of tyrannosaur to be discovered in Canada in …

  Somewhere in the universe, a highly energetic Fast Radio Burst (FRB) is blasting outward from an unknown object, bathing the sky in radio waves. Scientists may be one step closer to understanding these mysterious signals. A new study of FRBs has revealed the first of these energetic signals that …

An international team of researchers has found bacterial communities within microscopic spheroidal aggregates of dolomite, oil and water found in sheets of frozen methane and ice, known as ‘flammable ice,’ in Joetsu Basin, Japan Sea. Epifluorescence imagery of a tiny grain within methane hydrate showing internal presence of microbial DNA. …

A research team led by New York University scientists has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of two members of the basmati rice group: a variety of basmati rice called Basmati 334 and the sadri rice variety Dom Sufid. Basmati rice. Image credit: Republica. The Asian rice (Oryza sativa) is an …