Chemical fingerprints of life have been found on a distant exoplanet by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is the “most promising” evidence yet for alien life, scientists say. These chemicals were detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet named K2-18b, which is located 124 light-years away from Earth and orbits its star in … Read more
All over the world, frogs are being wiped out by the chytrid fungus. At least 500 species have declined, including as many as 90 species now presumed extinct. This catastrophic and ongoing biodiversity loss surpasses the devastation wrought by other notorious invasive species such as cats, rats and even cane toads. Short of removing species … Read more
When you look in a mirror, the reflection is fundamentally you, but with a perfect reversal of all your features. This illustrates a phenomenon we also see in the tiny world of molecules. Some molecules exist as mirror images of themselves, known as “enantiomers”, that can’t be superimposed on one another. This concept is known … Read more
Ground squirrels usually eat seeds and nuts, but in a park in California, these cute, furry creatures have turned into carnivorous killers, mercilessly hunting down voles to peel the flesh from their bones. The unusual new behavior, which researchers caught on camera in Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, could be driven by an … Read more
Disease name: Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) Affected populations: The disease affects an estimated 1 to 2 people per million every year, according to the National Organization of Rare Disorders. FFI is passed from parent to child, and between 50 and 70 families worldwide are believed to carry the genetic mutation that causes FFI. Males and … Read more
If you’ve ever seen yourself through a thermal imaging camera, you’ll know that your body produces lots of heat. This is in fact a waste product of our metabolism. Every square foot of the human body gives off heat equivalent to about 19 matches per hour. Unfortunately, much of this heat simply escapes into the … Read more
In an early-stage clinical trial, scientists used designer immune cells to “reboot” the immune systems of patients with various autoimmune diseases. The trial used a form of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, which has become a mainstay treatment for blood cancers, like leukemia. Only a few patients were included in this initial trial, … Read more
Tardigrades, the ubiquitous microscopic animals that resemble gummy bears with eight legs, are renowned for their ability to survive some of the harshest environmental conditions for decades without food and water. These hardy animals can easily endure levels of radiation that would be lethal to most other forms of life, extreme temperatures and even survive … Read more
Forgetting is part of our daily lives. You may walk into a room only to forget why you went in there — or perhaps someone says hi on the street and you can’t remember their name. But why do we forget things? Is it simply a sign of memory impairment, or are there benefits? One … Read more
Miniature livers will fly aboard the International Space Station in an upcoming study on whether microgravity can encourage the growth of healthy tissue with an ample blood supply. It’s an effort that could potentially lead to personalized, space-grown tissues and organs for use in transplant surgeries, scientists say. In two upcoming experiments, researchers plan to … Read more
