Events

Fun facts about bones: More than just scaffolding

A new vision of the skeleton as a dynamic organ that sends and receives messages suggests potential therapies for osteoporosis and other problems

Locusts and Grasshoppers | Things to Know

VIDEO: What’s the difference between these two insects? And what triggers a swarm?

Why you should care about parasites

VIDEO: Some hangers-on have a bad rep, but they're actually examples of sophisticated evolution

Humanizing immunology

The field has long been more mice than men. New technologies and systems-based approaches with human cells may soon fill gaps in our understanding of autoimmune disease and health, Mark Davis says in a Q&A.

The surprisingly tricky art of seed banking

To safeguard threatened plants, science must unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken

Winding the body’s clock

Medicines and other small molecules may play a role in fixing rhythms gone awry

Cracking life’s code

We think we know DNA, but little progress has been made in understanding the evolution of how it encodes proteins

Cellular rhythms: A rock-paper-scissors circuit

Growing a body, one tiny tug at a time

For decades, genetics and biochemistry have formed the bedrock of developmental biology. But it turns out that physical forces — the way cells push, pull and squeeze each other — play a huge role, too.

Earth to birds: Take the next left

Scientists have long thought that avian migration is guided by the magnetic field, but how, exactly?  The search has led to three very different hypotheses.

Structural biology: How proteins got their close-up

PODCAST: The journey to solving the structures of these critically important molecules began with a chance discovery. Today, after decades of painstaking lab work and huge technological leaps, the field of protein science is exploding. (Season 2/Episode 3)

The story of Snowball Earth

Ancient rocks suggest that ice entirely covered our planet on at least two occasions. This theory may help explain the rise of complex life that followed.

Getting to know the gut microbiome

Researchers are finally getting the tools to understand just how the microbial communities in and on our bodies affect health. But there are many mysteries left to solve — and many technological challenges.

Dung beetles: In the gutter, gazing at the stars

As they craft their humble lives from piles of manure, the insects look to the skies for direction

The essential fly

Think before you swat: The much-maligned fly could be the key to ensuring future supplies of many of the world’s favorite foods

Learning about birds from their genomes

Suddenly, biologists have hundreds of complete genome sequences of our feathered friends. That wealth of data is revolutionizing understanding of bird biology and evolution.

Heads up! The cardiovascular secrets of giraffes

Because of their height, giraffes require scarily high blood pressures — yet they escape the massive health problems that plague people with hypertension. Can clinicians learn from these animals?

Profiling the perpetrators of past plagues

The ancient pathogens in old graves are as dead as the people they once infected. Still, they tell a vivid tale.

Scientists can’t agree about Chernobyl’s impact on wildlife

Is Chernobyl a radioactive wasteland reeling from chronic radiation, or a post-nuclear paradise with thriving populations of animals and other life forms? Studies don’t always agree about levels of mutations and other ill effects.

Life’s a blur — but we don’t see it that way

Our brains manage to construct stable images even as our eyes keep darting around. Here’s what we know about how that happens.