Researchers have found their previous discovery of bacteria living on air in Antarctica is likely a process that occurs globally, further supporting the potential existence of microbial life on alien planets. Specifically, researchers found the target genes responsible for the atmospheric chemosynthesis phenomenon they discovered are abundant and widely distributed in the polar soils of…

Researchers offer a new evolutionary explanation for the familiar scenario in which women bring a sweater into work, while their male counterparts feel comfortable wearing short sleeves in an air-conditioned office. The researchers concluded that this phenomenon is not unique to humans, with many male species of endotherms (birds and mammals) preferring a cooler temperature…

Just like humans, New Caledonian crows are particularly careful when handling their most valuable tools, according to a new study. The research reveals that crows are more likely to store relatively complex and efficient foraging tools for future use than more basic tools. New Caledonian crows are renowned for using different types of tools for…

Spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea have been discovered using 3D seismic reflection technology. Similar to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the images reveal in unprecedented detail huge seafloor channels — each one 10 times wider than the River Thames. For the first time an international team of scientists can show previously undetectable landscapes…

Commercially available ultrafiltration membranes that purify water are expensive and get clogged easily by particles and microorganisms. Recently, living filtration membranes were reported as an alternative sieving material. Grown from kombucha cultures, the filters are dense, stacked sheets of bacterial cellulose. Now, researchers show that these living membranes are more resistant to clogging and biofouling,…

European wildcats, thought to be extinct 50 years ago in the Jura mountains, have since recolonized part of their former territory. This resurgence in an area occupied by domestic cats has gone hand-in-hand with genetic crosses between the two species. A team of biologists modeled the interactions between the two species and predict that hybridization…

Baboon mothers living in the wild carry dead infants for up to 10 days, according to a new study led by UCL and Universite de Montpellier. The research, published in Royal Society Open Science, is the most extensive study on baboons, reporting on 12 cases of group responses to infants’ deaths, including a miscarriage and…

When we eat food, our gut somehow senses its presence to begin shifting it along our digestive tract, but the question has always been — how? Now, new research using both human gut samples and mice has discovered that a touch-sensing protein called Piezo2 is not just in our fingers, but also in our gut,…

While analyzing some of the world’s oldest colored gemstones, researchers discovered carbon residue that was once ancient life, encased in a 2.5 billion-year-old ruby. The research team, led by Chris Yakymchuk, professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Waterloo, set out to study the geology of rubies to better understand the conditions necessary for ruby…

When it comes to craft beer, the flavor doesn’t have to be all in the hops. As a panel of amateur beer tasters at Washington State University recently demonstrated, malted barley, the number one ingredient in beer besides water, can have a range of desirable flavors too. Researchers recruited a panel of about 100 craft…