Cold temperature, as a biological process, refers to the exposure of organisms, tissues, or cells to low environmental or experimental temperatures that elicit specific physiological and molecular responses. These responses include activation of thermosensory pathways, alterations in membrane fluidity, modulation of ion channel activity (e.g., TRP channels), and changes in metabolic rate and mitochondrial function. Cold exposure triggers stress-response signaling, such as upregulation of cold-shock proteins, reprogramming of gene expression, and adjustments in lipid composition to preserve membrane integrity. In endotherms, it also induces thermogenic mechanisms, including brown adipose tissue activation and non-shivering thermogenesis, to maintain core body temperature.
Some pathogens use temperature as a trigger and activate virulence only after entering the warmer environment of a host. A research team from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and the University of Münster, Germany, investigated ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 2, 2026
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When you reach into a bucket of ice, open your front door on a snowy day, or feel the tingle of menthol toothpaste, a protein in your nerve cells called TRPM8 springs into action, opening like a tiny gate to send a "cold" ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 25, 2026
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43
The ability to sense environmental temperature, which helps animals move away from suboptimal locations and find those with ideal temperatures, involves various channels on sensory neurons that open at specific temperature ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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During hibernation, brown bears spend up to six months lying almost completely still, without eating, drinking or exercising. When spring arrives, they leave their dens with their muscles largely intact.
Ecology
Mar 1, 2026
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131
When you step outside on a winter morning or pop a mint into your mouth, a tiny molecular sensor in your body springs into action, alerting your brain to the sensation of cold. Scientists have now captured the first detailed ...
Biotechnology
Feb 21, 2026
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Cold air and frigid waters have caused more than 600 young green sea turtles to wash ashore on Florida's beaches this month—and more are turning up every day.
Plants & Animals
Feb 13, 2026
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Iguanas stunned by cold temperatures dropped from trees in usually balmy Florida on Sunday as icy conditions blasted southern U.S. states, dumping nearly a half-meter of snow in some areas and whipping up high winds that ...
Environment
Feb 2, 2026
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31
Skeletal muscle stem cells in hibernating Syrian hamsters preserve their ability to function by suppressing their activation during the hibernation period, a research team led by Hiroshima University has shown. This insight ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 26, 2026
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A monster storm barreling across swaths of the United States has killed at least 10 people and prompted warnings to stay off the roads, mass flight cancellations and power outages, as freezing conditions persisted into Monday.
Environment
Jan 26, 2026
2
20
On a frigid April day, Brock University Professor of Biological Sciences Glenn Tattersall, then-Ph.D. student Danilo Giacometti and wildlife researcher Patrick Moldowan ventured out into Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 19, 2026
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