Phys.org news
Phys.org / Researchers find microplastics in hedgehogs—then trace them back to pet food
When colleagues and I found microplastics in hedgehog droppings, we wanted to know where they were coming from. One answer was surprisingly close to home: pet food.
Phys.org / Drug peptides defy shape rules, activating receptors without full spiral form
When many of us think about how drugs work in the body, we may first think about how a drug gets into the body, such as a pill versus an injection. In the Gellman Group at the UW–Madison Department of Chemistry, researchers ...
Phys.org / New AI tool identifies wild animals by their unique patterns in real time
Patterns reveal the individual: A novel AI algorithm equips researchers with a powerful new tool to accurately identify individual jaguars, zebras and giraffes in real time based on their unique coat patterns. Biologists ...
Phys.org / DNA loops reveal how immune cells build millions of antibodies from one genome
How does your body produce millions of antibodies from one genome? New research reveals how two closely related proteins help immune cells fold DNA, connecting distant genetic pieces to create diverse antibodies that help ...
Phys.org / Our ovary blueprint is ancient, according to sea stars
At first glance, bat sea stars, the nubbly, orange, many-footed creatures often found on the seafloor, seem about as far from humans as one can get. Appearances can be deceiving, however. Scientists have found evidence showing ...
Phys.org / Real-time imaging reveals 'RNA hub' driving adaptive immune response
A lot of things need to go right on a molecular level for immune cells to launch an adaptive response to an infection. B cells can produce different classes of antibodies tailored for specific infections through controlled ...
Dialog / Liquid ripples rewrite 130-year-old biological classic: New reflections on the lock-and-key model
This April, when the spring breeze carried the formal acceptance notice of our paper by the Journal of the American Chemical Society to my desk, my thoughts instantly drifted back to the late Phil Geissler. A legendary physical ...
Phys.org / Although woodland salamanders have looked the same for millions of years, their physiology has evolved rapidly
For her doctoral dissertation, Yale's Nathalie Alomar decided to study a small amphibian that appeared to have eluded the forces of evolution. She found that there is more to its evolution than meets the eye.
Phys.org / Horseshoe bats use echolocation to separate background echoes from those of fluttering prey
Many bat species emit echolocation calls and use the returning echoes to find their way, detect the presence of fluttering insects, and locate and catch them. A new study investigated this behavior in greater horseshoe bats ...
Phys.org / Zebrafish and fruit flies share the same internal compass mechanism in a case of convergent evolution
Even in darkness, many animals retain a sense of orientation because their nervous system sustains a memory of heading encoded by the activity of head-direction (HD) cells. Animals continuously update this internal compass ...
Phys.org / Amazon fish reveal a synchronized survival tactic that could transfer to drone swarms
Some fish swim in synchrony. Others, it turns out, breathe in synchrony. This is true for arapaimas, an obligate air-breathing species living in the Amazon. A new study in Communications Biology, led by the Leibniz Institute ...
Phys.org / Sawdust, cellulose binders and beeswax combine into eco-friendly foam
Polystyrene—common in packing peanuts and box inserts—is manufactured from fossil fuels. To develop a sustainable alternative, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Polymer Materials tested an unconventional starting material: ...
