Flies evolved a shock-absorber tissue used during embryonic development Summary Two new studies reported in Nature (Dey et al. and Vellutini et al.) resolve a long-standing mystery about the cephalic…
This is the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’: its goal is to stop dengue Summary The Wolbito do Brasil facility in Curitiba is the world’s largest factory producing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes…
Ancient DNA clarifies the early history of the Slavs Summary This News & Views piece discusses a new Nature paper by Gretzinger et al. that uses ancient DNA to examine…
How academics and ‘big tech’ can learn from one another Summary Steven C. Currall argues that collaborations between academia and large technology firms can offer huge benefits but are often…
Compression causes cancer cells to start spreading Summary A zebrafish model of melanoma shows that mechanical compression from surrounding tissues can flip cancer cells from a proliferative state into an…
Summary Glioblastoma, the most aggressive adult brain cancer with a five-year survival below 5%, relies not only on glucose but also on the amino acid serine as an alternative carbon…
The diversity of microbial enzymes that turn a pollutant into an inert gas Summary Reductase enzymes convert the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) into harmless dinitrogen (N2). A new…
Earth’s capacity to store carbon could max out surprisingly soon Summary Researchers estimate that Earth can safely store roughly 1,460 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO₂) in stable sedimentary basins once…
Damaged bridges flex and twist to prevent collapse Summary Steel truss bridges — built from connected frames of members — can sometimes avoid catastrophic failure when a load-bearing element breaks…
Cocaine-activated ion channels engineered to break the loop of addiction in rats Summary Researchers have engineered ion channels that are selectively activated by cocaine and that can either stimulate or…
