Tag

Biology

All articles tagged with #biology

sciencespace14 hours ago•2 min saved

China Tests Stem-Cell Embryos in Orbit to Assess Space Reproduction Feasibility

China conducted an on-orbit study aboard the Tiangong station using artificial embryos made from human stem cells to examine early development in microgravity. The two embryo models (one simulating uterine attachment and another using a microfluidic chip to mimic tissue formation) were cultured for about five days on the Tianzhou-10 supply ship, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis, with Earth-based controls for comparison. The goal is to understand potential risks to human reproduction during long-term space habitation, not to create real babies in space.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #china #reproduction

biology1 day ago•17 min saved

Heat-and-Press Silk Becomes a Kevlar-like Ultra-Tough Material

Scientists have turned commercially available silkworm silk into a near-Kevlar-strength material by hot-pressing and fusing fibers at precise temperatures and pressures, preserving silk’s natural structure while boosting toughness, with potential for sustainable, scalable applications in sensors, implants, and lightweight protective materials.

via Gizmodo|

#bioengineering #biology #fused-silk

space1 day ago•59 min saved

China Sends Lab-Grown Embryos to Space to Study Early Development in Orbit

China’s Tianzhou‑10 cargo mission delivered roughly 7 tons of supplies to the Tiangong space station and carried two types of living stem‑cell–based “artificial embryos” to study early human development in microgravity. Representing 14–21 days after fertilization, the peri‑implantation and peri‑gastrulation embryos will be grown for about five days in orbit, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis to assess how space radiation and zero gravity affect embryo development—an important step for potential off‑Earth reproduction—though the researchers emphasize these are embryo‑like and not viable human embryos.

via Live Science|

#biology #china #embryology

science2 days ago•38 min saved

The Ultraviolet Blind Spot: How Evolution Shaped Human Vision

Humans can’t see ultraviolet light because the eye’s cornea and lens absorb most UV radiation before it reaches the retina. Evolution favored eye protection from UV damage, leaving our photoreceptors tuned to the visible spectrum. By contrast, many other animals have UV-sensitive visual systems, which helps them detect flowers, prey, or mates that reflect UV patterns. The article explains how this filtering works, why UV perception is advantageous for some species but not humans, and what this tells us about how vision has evolved in different lineages.

via Forbes|

#biology #evolution #eyes

science4 days ago•38 min saved

The Anatomy Behind Your One-of-a-Kind Voice

An evolutionary biologist explains that what we hear as a unique voice arises from a mix of anatomy and resonance: the length and shape of the vocal tract, the position and tension of the larynx and vocal cords, and the configuration of the mouth, tongue, and nasal cavities all shape timbre, pitch, and cadence. While genetics set the potential, individual experience and environment fine‑tune a person’s voice, making each voice a distinctive fingerprint used in everyday communication and social signaling.

via Forbes|

#anatomy #biology #evolution

biology4 days ago•15 min saved

Ecotypes as Genetic Time Capsules: How Local Adaptations Persist Within a Single Species

Evolutionary biologists show that ecotypes—local, adaptively distinct forms within a single species—act as a genetic memory by preserving alternative gene variants across the genome. Chromosomal inversions can lock these adaptive gene blocks into place, enabling rapid shifts between ecotypes (as in marine snails, sticklebacks, and Timema) without new species forming. Standing genetic variation provides the raw material for redeploying these traits when environments change, reshaping our view of speciation and evolution.

via Quanta Magazine|

#biology #ecotypes #evolution

science5 days ago•57 min saved

Real-World Sci‑Fi: 25 Surprising Discoveries That Are Actually True

A BuzzFeed list compiles 25 astonishing science facts that sound fake but are real—ranging from split-brain experiments and the immortality of lobsters to surprising planetary truths, oxygen’s ancient role, memory reconstruction, animal cognition, and more—demonstrating that reality often outpaces fiction and revealing how life, Earth, and the universe operate in ways that challenge intuition.

via BuzzFeed|

#biology #evolution #neuroscience

biology7 days ago•8 min saved

Two-Mile-Deep ‘Golden Orb’ Unmasked as Deep-Sea Anemone Base

Scientists solved the two-mile-deep “golden orb” mystery from NOAA’s Gulf of Alaska dive: the orb is not an egg, sponge, or alien object but the base remains of a giant deep-sea anemone, Relicanthus daphneae, identified through integrative taxonomy and whole-genome sequencing.

via SciTechDaily|

#anemone #biology #deep-sea

health8 days ago•53 min saved

31 Mind-Blowing Secrets Your Body Keeps Revealing

BuzzFeed Health compiles 31 viral facts about the human body, offering quick explanations and sources—from how memories and songs are stored in different brain regions to astonishing quirks like enteral ventilation (butt breathing) and fetal stem cell migration—delivering a playful, educational tour of our body's surprises.

via BuzzFeed|

#anatomy #biology #facts

culture8 days ago•11 min saved

Two Evolutionary Shifts Pushed Humans Toward a Right-Hand Bias

An Oxford study across 41 primate species finds that humans aren’t evolutionarily exceptional in handedness once brain size and limb proportions are included; a two-stage path links upright walking (freed hands) and later brain expansion to the strong right-hand bias (mean handedness index 0.76), suggesting the 90% right-handed world arose from changes in movement and brain growth rather than a single gene, with culture possibly reinforcing it.

via Interesting Engineering|

#biology #bipedalism #culture

biology10 days ago•16 min saved

Diallyl Disulfide: Garlic’s Secret to Slowing Insect Reproduction

Yale-led researchers screened 43 fruits and vegetables and found that garlic’s diallyl disulfide can disrupt mating and egg-laying in fruit flies, Aedes mosquitoes, and tsetse flies by acting on the taste receptor TrpA1, offering a cheap, safe avenue for eco-friendly pest control through phytoscreening.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #diallyl-disulfide #garlic

biology12 days ago•36 min saved

Diet shapes rapid intestinal cell evolution across Tanganyika's cichlids

A comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic study of 24 Tanganyikan cichlid species shows that diet-driven diversification largely reconfigures the anterior intestinal epithelium, with shifts in anterior enterocyte abundances and cell-type–specific gene expression governed by fast-evolving, cell-population–specific genes—demonstrating that ecological adaptation operates at both cellular composition and molecular levels in the gut.

via Nature|

#adaptive-radiation #biology #cichlid-fishes

science12 days ago•5 min saved

Bacteria Survive on 19 Amino Acids in Ribosomes for 450 Generations

Columbia University researchers redesigned 21 ribosomal proteins in E. coli to remove isoleucine, using AI-guided protein design, and created a viable strain that survived and reproduced for over 450 generations. The genome still largely relies on isoleucine, so it's not a full 19-amino-acid organism, but the work shows life can function with a reduced amino acid alphabet and provides a framework for studying early protein synthesis.

via Indian Defence Review|

#amino-acids #biology #genetics

biology13 days ago•12 min saved

Bird Retina Survives on Glucose, Not Oxygen

New research shows that the inner retina of birds can function without oxygen by relying on anaerobic glycolysis fueled by glucose supplied via the pecten oculi, while the outer retina uses oxygen. This arrangement supports the birds’ high-energy vision and reveals how the eye’s evolutionary tinkering may have evolved to maintain function during low-oxygen conditions, with potential implications for understanding tissue hypoxia in humans.

via Quanta Magazine|

#anaerobic-glycolysis #biology #birds

biology13 days ago•7 min saved

Immune Alarm Drives Rapid Aging: Blocking cGAS Reverses Tissue Damage

Researchers have linked an overactive immune sensor called cGAS to tissue degeneration in severe DNA repair disorders (like Ataxia-Telangiectasia and Bloom syndrome). Damaged DNA in cells can trigger cGAS, causing chronic inflammation that drives decline; reducing cGAS activity in a rapid-aging vertebrate model improved neuroinflammation, tissue function, and reproductive capacity. The work suggests aging-related decline may hinge as much on the body's inflammatory response as on unrepaired DNA damage, offering a potential new therapeutic angle with caution to preserve antiviral defense.

via SciTechDaily|

#aging #biology #cgas