Research predicts growth, survival of 'superorganism' ant colonies

(Phys.org)—Smaller ant colonies tend to live faster, die younger and burn up more energy than their larger counterparts, as do the individual ants that make up those colonies, according to new research that views the colonies ...

Glowing zebrafish shed light on metabolism

A tiny, translucent zebrafish that glows green when its liver makes glucose has helped an international team of researchers identify a compound that regulates whole-body metabolism and appears to protect obese mice from signs ...

RNA folding: A little cooperation goes a long way

(Phys.org)—The nucleic acid RNA is an essential part of the critical process by which the cells in our bodies manufacture proteins. But noncoding RNAs also exist whose sequences, while not converted into proteins, play ...

The minimal microbe

There are approximately one trillion quintillion microbial cells on this planet. That's more than the number of stars in the known universe! 

Super-microbes engineered to solve world environmental problems

Environmental problems, such as depleting natural resources, highlight the need to establish a renewable chemical industry. Metabolic engineering enhances the production of chemicals made by microbes in so-called "cell factories". ...

Hummingbirds make flying backward look easy

Animals that move backwards usually require a lot of energy, so Nir Sapir from the University of California Berkeley, USA, was surprised when he realized that hummingbirds execute this maneuver routinely. Wondering how hummingbirds ...

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