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Backward motion is easier to judge at walking speed

When we walk forward, the scene ahead spreads outward from a central point. Moving backward produces the opposite pattern, with the scene appearing to contract inward. These patterns, known as optic flow, help us judge our ...

Could ecological roles offer clues to how life began?

Producers, consumers, and decomposers play different roles in today's ecosystems. Thinking about these familiar roles led me to a question: Could their differences partly reflect the different physical and chemical environments ...

Open-source workflow makes spatial proteomics easier to use

Fabian Coscia and his team have published in Nature Methods an open-source workflow that makes Deep Visual Proteomics easier to use, adapt and scale. OpenDVP enables scientists to spatially map thousands of proteins inside ...

How rice coordinates signals to partner with beneficial soil fungi

Most plants do not gather nutrients from the soil entirely on their own. Many form partnerships with microscopic fungi that grow inside their roots and extend into the surrounding soil. These partnerships, known as arbuscular ...

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Light-based method could offer first way to detect hypothetical 'mirror life'
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Electronic nose puts police detection dogs to the test
Cell & Microbiology
Scientists discover migration-mediated mechanism enabling bacteria-virus coexistence
Cell & Microbiology
Scientists reveal how deadly Andes hantavirus attaches to human cells
Evolution
More current with less calcium: Computational models help solve longstanding ion channel evolution mystery
Cell & Microbiology
Chromosome anchors form hollow shells before cell division, imaging reveals
Biotechnology
Two-in-one tool tracks viral RNA inside live infected cells in real time
Cell & Microbiology
Bending a liquid: Liquid membranes flex 100 times more easily than cell membranes
Plants & Animals
Measuring regrowth: Erk gradients guide zebrafish fins back to their original size after injury
Cell & Microbiology
Unraveling DNA repair: How cells protect their genetic blueprint
Biotechnology
'Raman barcodes' distinguish 20 SARS-CoV-2 variants by their RNA architecture
Molecular & Computational biology
Keeping jumping genes in place: New role for protein complex discovered
Cell & Microbiology
Added receptor helps CAR T cells stay in bone marrow in cancer mouse models
Plants & Animals
Rolling without wheels: How dwarf reedsnakes coordinate their bodies for high-speed escapes
Evolution
Oldest animals on Earth found to share a common wormlike ancestor
Evolution
Ancient Hox code reveals the developmental roots of vertebrate hind fins and limbs
Cell & Microbiology
How enzymes locally block cell wall repair, allowing cells to fuse in an irreversible manner
Cell & Microbiology
How bacteria survive in a world full of killer bacteriophages
Biotechnology
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Optics & Photonics
New converter could bridge light wavelength gap in quantum communications
Plasma Physics
Radio waves drive a fusion plasma current that could help reactors run continuously
Education
Scientists produce less disruptive research as they age, but their breakthroughs are more likely to last
Condensed Matter
Diamond defects confirm 80-year-old theory of crystal stress
Evolution
False lingzhi unmasked: Scientists crack the 245-year mystery behind a medicinal mushroom mix-up
Paleontology & Fossils
Fossils from brickworks reveal new dinosaur species that roamed England's wetlands 125 million years ago
Astronomy
Laser-blasted plasma shows how instabilities could heat the sun's corona
Astronomy
JWST and ALMA reveal a dusty, rapidly growing black hole in the early universe
Nanomaterials
Water into fuel: The new nanomaterial that could upgrade green hydrogen
Veterinary medicine
Can cats really thrive on vegan diets? Professor Andrew Knight responds to critics
Cell & Microbiology
New binary gene expression system enables independent control of multiple cell types
Evolution
Armored amphibian lived entirely at sea 237 million years ago, fossils suggest
Planetary Sciences
Clouds on a lava planet challenge what astronomers expected
Education
Audit reveals suspected fabricated references across physics, chemistry, engineering and computing journals
Evolution
How shoes change our bones—and what that tells us about the evolution of walking
Biochemistry
Silent bacterial genes yield potential leads for future cancer drugs
Optics & Photonics
Metalens microscope switches focus with voltage, not moving optics
Evolution
Lizard tail preserved in amber sheds light on a 100-million-year-old defense mechanism
Bio & Medicine
Simulations reveal design rules for high-performance DNA particle motors
Analytical Chemistry
Hydrogen production from seawater: Low-cost catalyst could cut energy use and resist corrosion

Major genetic weakness threatens future corn breeding, study reveals

A new study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scientists reveals critically low genetic variation in one of the country's primary breeding stocks for corn. The finding relates specifically to grain yield in intermediate-maturity ...

Scientists uncover a hidden mechanism that drives RNA synthesis

Scientists have long been fascinated by two promising classes of antibiotics that disable RNA polymerase (RNAP). They knew that these drugs could grind gene expression to a halt in several pathogens, including the bacterium ...