Getting dust mites to leave homes on their own

House dust mites, nearly microscopic creatures that inhabit every crevice of our lives and make us sneeze, have long been assumed to be solitary in behavior. Now new research has shown that they are actually quite social.

What can slime mold teach us about the universe?

What can slime molds tell us about the large-scale structure of the universe and the evolution of galaxies? These things might seem incongruous, yet both are part of nature, and Earthly slime molds seem to have something ...

Algorithm inspired by slime mold foraging

Nature has provided a great deal of inspiration for computer scientists developing search algorithms and ways to solve complicated problems with as little computing power as possible. Ant colonies, beehives, bat hunting, ...

Slime Santa beard likes hot peppers

A slime Santa beard has been made by Ian Hands-Portman at the University of Warwick using slime molds, a myxomycete which is a single giant cell with multiple nuclei that lives in dark damp places and likes to feed off bacteria ...

Molecular inhibition gets cells on the move

Researchers at Osaka University show how the mutual inhibition of two molecules results in their localization at opposite ends of cells, acting as a trigger for the formation of appendages at one cell end that makes directional ...

Home toxic home

Most organisms would die in the volcanic sulfur pools of Yellowstone and Mount Etna. Robust simple algae call it home, and their secrets to survival could advance human medicine and bioremediation.

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