Enlarge / Two formerly paralyzed individuals go for a stroll in Lausanne, Switzerland. (credit: EPFL) Spinal cord injuries are life-altering, as they prevent the transmission of nerve impulses past the point of injury. That means no sensory inputs make it to the brain, and no signals from the brain make it to the muscles normally […]
A chimp named Suzee inspects a wound on the foot of her adolescent son, Sia, then catches an insect out of the air, puts it in her mouth, presses it between her lips, and applies it to the wound while the girl daughter, Sassandra, observes her. (Alessandra Mascaro) In November 2019, Alessandra Mascaro was observing […]
Enlarge / The patterns of the ocellated lizard are predictable by a mathematical model with regard to phase transitions. (credit: UNIGE or Michel Milinkovitch) Zebras and tigers have stripes, cheetahs plus leopards have spots, and the ocellated lizard ( Timon lepidus ) boasts a labyrinthine pattern of black-and-green chains associated with scales. Now researchers from […]
Enlarge / False-color image of a T-cell (orange) latching on to a cell in preparation for killing it. (credit: Getty Images) From the start, the omicron variant had people worried because its version of the spike protein carried mutations in many of the sites that are recognized by antibodies. This meant that antibodies generated to […]
Enlarge / (left) Biologists have named a newly discovered species of branching worm, Ramisyllis kingghidorahin, after Godzilla’s nemesis. (right) Fragment of one specimen of the branching worm. (credit: M.T. Aguado) In the 2019 blockbuster film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, everyone’s favorite kaiju, Godzilla, battled another titan named King Ghidorah, a monster notable for its […]
Enlarge If ever there was a moment to brush up on your knowledge of the immune system, this is that moment. (Okay, March-April 2020 may have been preferable, but you can still catch up. ) And Immune is the perfect vehicle in order to help you do that. This book is phenomenal. It is engaging, […]
Enlarge / Don’t try this at home. Seriously. We mean it. (credit: Anna Efetova) Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have tested a wide range of drugs to see if they inhibit the virus. Most of these tests didn’t end up going anywhere; even the few drugs that did work typically required concentrations […]
Enlarge / Cloned piglets that are engineered to be useful for organ transplants to humans. (credit: Getty Images / Staff) Last week, when we reported on the first pig-to-human heart transplant, we complained that the commercial company behind the transplant wasn’t more forthcoming about the genetic engineering that had converted the pig into a viable […]
Enlarge / Sure, they look like they’re just taking a friendly swim, but these two dolphins are actually aroused. A recent study found that female bottlenose dolphins have large erectile bodies that fill up with blood, large nerves with nerve bundles that end right under the skin, thinner skin on the clitoris body, and genital […]
Enlarge / Illustration of antibodies responding to an infection of SARS-CoV-2. (credit: Getty Images/Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library) Right from omicron’s first description, researchers were concerned about the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Looking over the list of mutations it carried, scientists could identify a number that would likely make the variant more infectious. Other mutations […]