The self-organization properties of DNA-like molecular fragments four billion years ago may have guided their own growth into repeating chemical chains long enough to act as a basis for primitive life, say an international team of scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of University of Milan. A paper describing the intriguing […]
After a chance observation in the lab, Stanford researchers have identified a method that forces human leukemia cells to mature into harmless immune cells known as macrophages. The work is described in a paper that will be published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ravi Majeti, senior author of the paper, said the […]
Recent developments in science appear to indicate that the emergence of life in general and perhaps even rational life, with its associated technological culture, may be common throughout the Universe. Now, a new paper appearing in the journal Space Policy suggests this universal tendency toward complexity has distinctly religious overtones and may even establish a […]
It’s long been known that human fat cells are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. What’s just been discovered by Australian scientists is that when we “burn” fat, almost all the broken-down fat molecules are exhaled through the lungs as carbon dioxide. The research team, led by Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown of the […]
In research that has implications for our understanding of how diseases spread in human populations, researchers from the University of Zurich have been studying how sick animals will conceal their illness in the presence of their young or when mating opportunities arise. The study’s author, Dr. Patricia Lopes, says that animals from a number of […]
Re-examining biodiversity data from one hundred long-term ecosystem monitoring studies done around the world, a new paper has revealed that the number of species in many of these places has not changed much – or has actually increased. But the researchers did discover something changing rapidly:which species were thriving. University of Vermont researcher Nick Gotelli’s […]
A new study reveals that humans and other primates burn 50 percent fewer calories each day than other mammals. Interestingly, the study also reports that primates in zoos expend as much energy as those in the wild, suggesting that physical activity may have less of an impact on daily energy expenditure than previously thought. The […]
A growing human population will inevitably crowd out mammals and birds and has the potential to threaten hundreds of species with extinction within 40 years, new research from Ohio State University indicates. The findings are detailed in the journal Human Ecology. The scientists behind the study have determined that the average growing nation should expect […]
Scientists working in the Philippines have discovered a new enigmatic species of ant with a bizarre pigmentation pattern that has no equivalent anywhere else on the planet. Reporting their discovery in the journal Zookeys, the scientists explain how the female pirate ant can be recognized by a distinctive dark stripe across the eyes that resembles […]
Using a DC-8 aircraft to scoop-up air samples from the troposphere, scientists have identified significant numbers of living microorganisms – mostly bacteria – six miles above the Earth’s surface. The work, detailed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is of interest to atmospheric scientists as the microorganisms could play a role in forming […]
