Science Art:Vergleich der Aufnahme von RNA und modR in der Zelle, 2018
A diagram of two kinds of RNA doing their thing inside a cell (which is converting instructions from DNA into some kind of protein that […]
biology
Making embryos from human skin
BBC recently reported on scientists taking DNA from human skin cells and fertilizing it with sperm to create a non-egg embryo – or at least […]
Eating sea otters is giving wolves mercury poisoning.
Mongabay reports on a survey of data going back 25 years that show Alaskan coastal wolves have changed their diet from deer to sea otters […]
Wild cockatoos use public water fountains
Smithsonian shares some unusual observations from Australia, where wild cockatoos have learned to operate the controls of water fountains in public parks to get a […]
Science Art: Lincoln’s Measurements, compared with “Old Americans,” 1953 (detail).
This is part of a graphic from a 1953 issue of Natural History, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s magazine. The article it’s illustrating is […]
Science Art: Ball-shaped blob of California black worms, 2023.
This is a biological photo that is also a mathematical photo. It’s a ball of worms that Georgia Tech researchers were studying, because, as it […]
Living skin helps robot smile in a way that is not at all creepy.
Glistening and pink like extruded edible protein, sure… but at least it’s friendly! NPR uncovers the living skin used to cover robots with a (supposedly) […]
Locusts raised in a centrifuge have stronger skeletons.
Science Magazine gets heavy with insects that, when brought up in the “hypergravity” of a spinning centrifuge, grow stronger exoskeletons as a result: When a […]
SETI talked for 20 minutes with a whale.
Mashable has an alien communication story with an aquatic twist. SETI and the Alaska Whale Foundation practiced for first contact by spending 20 minutes “conversing” […]
Micro-napping champions: chinstrap penguins
Yes, you read that correctly. Science News reports on an unusual distinction in the natural world. Chinstrap penguins manage to net a total of 11 […]
Science Art: Male Wood Duck, by Abbott H. Thayer, 1904.
This is half of one color plate from a book intended to show how “showy” coloration can actually make some creatures harder to spot in […]
SONG: Whispering Secrets to Me
SONG: “Whispering Secrets to Me”. ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Defector 15 Nov 2022, “Turtles Have Been Vocalizing All This Time. Why Did We Not Listen?,” as […]
Studying lizard lungs to build replacement human lungs.
Princeton researchers are looking at the fast-growing lungs of ordinary, common lizards called brown anoles to find way to quickly create replacement lungs for humans […]
Grape seed extract extends mice lifespans (and health) by 9 percent.
New Scientist reports on a Nature Metabolism study that found a chemical found in grape seeds helped bodies weed out weaker “senescent” cells, leading to […]
Science Art: Triops longicaudatus, by Steve Jurvetson, 2005
This is a triops, a three-eyed critter something like a trilobite (though it’s not actually one of those at all). From the Wikimedia Commons description: […]