Biological Science

A protein and signaling pathway may help overcome the developmental block that keeps some leukemia cells immature. Inside the bone marrow, immature blood cells normally pass through a tightly controlled sequence of development before taking on specialized roles. In aggressive forms of leukemia, some of these precursor cells become trapped partway through that process. Instead [...]

Engineered gut bacteria helped activate immune attacks against pancreatic tumors in animal models. Pancreatic tumors are notoriously difficult for the immune system to attack. They often create a “cold” tumor microenvironment that keeps immune cells from building an effective response, limiting the benefits of immunotherapies that have transformed treatment for several other cancers. Researchers at [...]

Heavy television viewing in middle age was linked to a troubling brain signature more than 20 years later. Television may be doing more than filling quiet hours. A long-term study suggests that people who watched it most frequently in middle age later showed structural brain differences linked to memory loss, vascular damage, and dementia. The [...]

A new smart ring could reveal far more than how well someone slept or how fast their heart is beating. Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed an experimental smart ring that continuously analyzes sweat from the finger to monitor several molecules associated with metabolism, nutrition, exercise, and alcohol consumption. The prototype [...]

Distinct marks on cave bones can reveal how underwater fossil deposits formed and changed over time. Deep inside flooded caves, animal bones can remain remarkably intact for decades or even centuries. Yet researchers have lacked a reliable way to determine how the remains of extinct megafauna and other animals accumulated in these submerged sites or [...]

New research helps scientists determine whether marks on fossils are genuine bite marks. Deep grooves and punctures scar a small collection of dinosaur bones unearthed in Wyoming. They resemble the aftermath of a powerful predator’s bite—but fossil damage can be deceptive. Disease, erosion, insects, and exposure after death can all leave impressions that mimic tooth [...]

Researchers developed knitted textiles that can function as switches and count steps. A piece of knitted fabric can now do more than stretch and fold. By carefully controlling its yarns and stitch patterns, researchers have made textiles that snap between stable shapes, operate electrical switches, and even track a person’s steps. Researchers at the Harvard [...]

Free electrons offer chemists a new way to control reactions that conventional electron transfer rules would normally prevent. Inside a reaction flask, an electron can determine which molecules combine and which remain unchanged. Chemists rely on this control to build complex compounds used in lifesaving drugs, advanced materials, and laboratory models of biological systems. One [...]

How even small but frequent disruptions can cause quantum computers to fail. Quantum computers are expected to tackle difficult tasks more quickly and with less energy than current supercomputers, including molecular simulations and complex logistics planning. Progress toward that goal depends partly on increasing the number of qubits, the basic units that store and process [...]

More than 150 years after Darwin’s finches helped reshape biology, Galápagos plants are exposing another evolutionary surprise. Giant daisies repeatedly developed similar heat-tolerant leaf shapes, but each lineage used a different combination of genes. Researchers also found major genetic differences among isolated populations, suggesting new species may be forming right now.

A fossil overlooked for nearly 80 years has revealed a previously unknown crocodile relative that lived 210 million years ago in what is now New Mexico. Named Eosphorosuchus lacrimosa, the jackal-sized predator had a reinforced skull, powerful jaw muscles, and a short snout built for tackling larger prey.

The exhibition reveals how prehistoric communities lived, adapted, and left traces across the Trent Valley. Beneath the Trent Valley, artifacts, pollen, animal remains, and layers of sediment preserve evidence of communities that lived there thousands of years ago. A new exhibition at the University of Nottingham Museum brings those discoveries together, revealing how archaeological research [...]

Scientists can now twist large oxide crystals into new materials with potentially powerful electronic properties. A carefully chosen twist can transform how a material behaves. Researchers have now found a way to apply that principle to large sheets of crystalline oxides, opening a potential route toward electronic materials with structures and properties that can be [...]

Fossils newly identified in a rock collected 30 years ago in Osaka Prefecture may belong to a previously unknown species. For roughly 30 years, four mosasaur bones remained concealed inside a rock stored at the Natural History Museum, Kishiwada City. When researchers recently examined the unprepared specimen, they uncovered fossils unlike those of any mosasaur [...]

Researchers mapped where DNA first opens and how a helicase gate may release one strand as genome copying begins. Before a cell can divide, it must open its tightly wound DNA and begin copying the entire genome. Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and collaborating institutions have now traced this process to [...]