https://phys.org/biology-news/ en-us Read the latest science news from Phys.org on biology, evolution, microbiology, biotechnology Many people recognize that gender—how a person identifies, presents themselves and is perceived—has nuances. Some people identify and present as women, others as men, and still others as nonbinary. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-biological-sex-binary-spectrum-biologist.html Other Tue, 18 Aug 2026 22:00:01 EDT news706289761 All living cells need energy, and most generate it through respiration, a series of chemical reactions normally confined to the cell membrane. Because this machinery takes up space, a cell's energy-generating capacity has long been thought to depend on how much membrane it can build. Complex cells solve this problem using mitochondria packed with folded membranes, while some bacteria enlarge or reshape their own membranes. In each case, producing more energy requires changing the cell's internal architecture. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bacteria-internal-power-cables-respiration.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 20:20:01 EDT news706266228 The global community should work to establish an array of new international legal rules to protect the health of fish stocks, new research says. Rather than one set of laws covering all possible maritime sustainability issues, there should be a range of different rules, each with its own distinct objectives and mandates. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-international-health-fishing-stocks.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 20:00:01 EDT news706284400 Every cell in the body contains essentially the same DNA, yet a brain cell behaves differently from a muscle cell or an immune cell. The difference lies largely in how each cell reads its genetic instructions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-largest-human-cells-dna-chemical.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:20:01 EDT news706276802 Recent advances in our understanding of human evolution challenge the way we currently name and classify our ancestors, according to new research from Monash University. The study, published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, argues that we need a rethink and proposes reclassifying all species of humans and our closely related fossil relatives that have lived in the past 4–5 million years as part of the genus Homo. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-rethinking-human-ancestors-evolutionary-discoveries.html Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:30:05 EDT news706291921 A benign but invasive canine oral cancer is often mistaken for a similar malignant one, leading to misdiagnoses in close to a third of cases. But a new diagnostic tool can now distinguish between the two, according to a new study that also identified a promising FDA-approved drug ready for clinical trials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-drug-invasive-canine-oral-tumors.html Veterinary medicine Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:40:07 EDT news706273621 A new AI framework, known as SHIC-XE, has been developed to detect signs of pain in horses from video analysis while providing stable, anatomically consistent explanations for its decisions. The framework was developed by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Marcelo Feighelstein, head of the Artificial Intelligence Systems Engineering Program at Tel-Hai University's new Cluster of Engineering and Advanced Computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-pain-animals-theyre.html Biotechnology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:30:04 EDT news706291501 A new study led by researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin shows that Berlin's dragonfly populations have declined by more than half since 1963, while populations of frogs, toads and newts have fallen by more than three-quarters since 1981. The study also involved Berlin-based experts Falk Petzold and Klaus-Detlef Kühnel, who coordinate the data series. The research, which was carried out as part of the project "Understanding Diversity—Exploring and Experiencing Nature," was published in the journal Global Change Biology Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hidden-losses-amphibians-dragonflies-berlin.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news706275583 Eight years of painstaking research on the virtually unknown Wolffsohn's viscacha have helped to shine the spotlight on this super-rare South American rodent and catalyze the conservation action it so urgently needs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-secrets-mystery-mammal-patagonia-revealed.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 16:20:07 EDT news706272541 A functional nervous system depends on the cooperation of many kinds of cells. As developing organisms build their nervous systems, their neurons must take on different forms and functions to fulfill their designated roles. That carefully orchestrated process gives rise to thousands of different cell types in the human brain. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-genome-complex-reveals-mechanism-neuron.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:40:06 EDT news706272121 Every time a cell divides, it must accurately copy its entire genetic instruction manual. Before this process can begin, cells load their DNA-copying motor—a complex of six subunits known as the MCM2-7 helicase—onto DNA. However, this motor is deliberately kept inactive to prevent replication from starting at the wrong time. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-snapshots-reveal-key-dna-replication.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:20:04 EDT news706271761 An African bat whose presence in Sicily had remained an unresolved zoological mystery for almost two centuries has now been documented on Pantelleria Island. A study published in Global Ecology and Conservation reports the first solid evidence of the Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) in Europe, adding not only a new bat species but also the first representative of the family Nycteridae to the European fauna. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-african-overlooked-centuries-europe.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:10:01 EDT news706282441 According to a study by Brazilian scientists published in the journal npj Biodiversity, most new mammal species described over the past 35 years are housed in institutions in countries of the so-called Global North, even though the vast majority were discovered in poor or developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mammal-species-global-south-northern.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news706271641 Understanding "who eats whom" is the key to keeping our oceans alive—and our dinner plates full. However, this invisible network that makes up the food chain can unravel with the pull of just one thread. Overfish one species, and its predators starve. Cut off a tiny prey species, and the entire food chain collapses—including us. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mathematical-tool-uncover-nature.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:50:01 EDT news706282261 Scientists can engineer living cells to perform useful tasks, from producing medicines and sustainable chemicals to detecting disease. Unlike traditional engineered systems, living cells are constantly changing as they grow, making their behavior difficult to predict and control. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-real-biological.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:40:08 EDT news706270861 One of the special plants once found at Heslington Fields, the marsh helleborine orchid. The grounds, now occupied by the University of York's Campus East and parts of Campus West, were once part of Heslington Fields, an open-field system rich in rare plants, fens and wetlands. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-lost-botanical-hotspot-university-york.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:40:06 EDT news706267734 Yesterday, I woke to a cold, damp Canberra morning—and silence. The trees around my home were empty of feathered silhouettes. Even the usual bright-eyed, warble-voiced magpies were absent. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-coasts-plains-bird-flu-threaten.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:20:05 EDT news706267261 AI optimists will be encouraged by a recent report on the state of the world's plants and fungi by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-million-digitized-specimens-reveal.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:10:01 EDT news706279021 Coronins are found throughout the animal kingdom, from single-celled amoebae to humans, and are involved in many vital processes, including immunity, development and cell survival. For decades, textbooks and hundreds of scientific papers have described coronins primarily as proteins that bind to actin, a key component of the cytoskeleton. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-cells-remodel-actin-coronins-textbook.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:00:10 EDT news706268761 For decades, Australia was the last inhabited continent free of the bee-killing Varroa mite (Varroa destructor). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-australian-beekeepers-tackle-varroa-mite.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:00:08 EDT news706267202 Every year, about 50 million metric tons of plastic is dumped into the environment. This waste entangles, chokes and poisons wildlife worldwide, including sable shearwaters living on the remote Australian island of Lord Howe. After hatching on the island, these birds head out to sea for several years before returning to breed as adults. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fifteen-years-link-plastic-pollution.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:30:01 EDT news706277761 Researchers at the University of Sydney have harnessed more than 30 years of data to build a new method to more accurately measure the impact of climate change-induced events on the Great Barrier Reef. The findings are published in the journal Marine Environmental Research. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-healthy-coral-reefs-built-tool.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:00:07 EDT news706265702 Scientists have described five new species of parasitoid wasps from Cyprus, more than doubling the number of chalcid wasps known to be found nowhere else on the island. The wasps, all belonging to the family Pteromalidae, are small insects that play an important role as natural pest controllers, yet remain poorly studied across much of southeastern Europe and the Middle East. The study is published in the journal ZooKeys. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-wasp-species-cyprus-aphrodite.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:00:05 EDT news706267463 Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography in Marseille, France, have discovered something surprising in the Mediterranean Sea: giant chains of phytoplankton. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-robotic-ocean-glider-reveals-giant.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:40:07 EDT news706265102 The recent announcement of novel, viable viruses created by artificial intelligence (AI) was celebrated as a major advance in the fight against antibiotic resistance. But it also raised urgent concerns about regulation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-biotechnology-faster-technology.html Biotechnology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:20:09 EDT news706266902 When a destroyed section of the Amazon rainforest begins to recover, nature deploys only a few tree species that can withstand poor soil conditions and blazing sun and grow rapidly, a Brazilian study has shown. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tree-species-amazon-forest-recovery.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:18:28 EDT news706274286 Between 29,000 and 19,000 years ago, the planet experienced some of its coldest temperatures and drastic landscape changes at the peak of the Ice Age, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the period of most extensive global ice cover. Humans, despite being unaccustomed to such icy temperatures and surroundings, survived through the age. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-jomon-dna-reveals-hidden.html Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:40:10 EDT news706266198 The narwhal's impressive tusk has long been the subject of myths. In the Middle Ages, they were sold as unicorn horns believed to possess magical powers. Now, an international team of researchers led by Aarhus University has solved the mystery of how the tusk acquires its twisted structure. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spiral-narwhal-tusks-resistance.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:00:08 EDT news706175641 For dolphins, the ocean is a world of sound. Their whistles carry social information, helping them communicate and stay connected, while echolocation—rapid-fire clicks—functions like underwater sonar, helping them navigate their surroundings and detect potential prey. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-snooping-dolphins-acoustic-clues-hotspots.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:40:07 EDT news706263421 A major push is underway to catch and vaccinate more than 5,000 little penguins in Victoria to protect them against the virulent H5N1 bird flu. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-penguins-vaxxed-bird-flu.html Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:40:05 EDT news706266782