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Life Sciences

A fruit fly larva with imagined electric field lines in the background.
Photo Credit
Sakkmesterke vi Adobe Stock
Fruit fly larvae will reorient themselves toward the negative pole of an electric field.

Scientists discover that fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields

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the cellular development of an embryonic tooth
Photo Credit
Neha Pincha Shroff and Pengfei Xu
Tooth epithelium (cell surface; yellow) and mesenchyme (cell surface; magenta). Proliferating cells (cyan) expand the tissue, generating a mechanical pressure at the tissue center that drives the formation of the main tooth signaling center or organizer, the enamel knot.

Pressure determines which embryonic cells become ‘organizers’
Two views: An Etruscan shrew and the breeching hide of a blue whale
Photo Credit
Shrew: Trebol-a/CC BY-SA 3.0 Whale: Jeff Jacobsen

Reference genomes from the world’s largest and smallest mammals pave the way toward solving mysteries of development and lifespan
A chiton sits among algae on a rock.
Photo Credit
Marcelo Rojas González via iNaturalist
The shell of the variable tonicia is covered in complex, image-forming eyes.

Unraveling the mystery of chiton visual systems
a cathedral in the middle of a mountain town in Colombia
Yarumal, a municipality in the foothills of the Andes north of Medellín, is one of several communities in Colombia that host a large kindred with a genetic form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease

Untangling a sticky mystery: Researchers make precious headway into a genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease
A large crescent moon shines in the early twilight over tidal mudflats.
Photo Credit
DALL-E, prompt by Harrison Tasoff.
A soft summer evening in the Paleoproterozoic, as envisioned by DALL-E.

Even the oldest eukaryote fossils show dazzling diversity and complexity
Side view of a researcher in a lab, wearing goggles and a white coat, looking down
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova

Making the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure through research
an array of food that is part of the ketogenic diet

Clinical trial shows that the ketogenic diet is effective at controlling polycystic kidney disease
A scuba diver swims in a kelp forest
Photo Credit
Courtesy of NPS

Illuminating the benefits of marine protected areas for ecotourism, and vice versa
The surface of Lake Superior from the back of a research vessel.
Photo Credit
Alexandra Phillips
The sulfate poor waters of Lake Superior could provide insights on the biochemistry of Earth's early ocean.

Research in Lake Superior reveals how sulfur might have cycled in Earth’s ancient oceans
A large pile of small blue plastic objects rises from a relief map of Manhattan
Photo Credit
Courtesy Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
This image of a blue plastic pile represents the cumulative amount of plastic waste that would be generated between 2010 and 2050 — enough to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and ten times the height of the Empire State Building — under a business-as-usual scenario where no aggressive policy actions are taken.

A ‘Paris Agreement for plastic’ could slash plastic pollution to almost zero
two blue-green mitochondria against a lighter blue-green background

Zen and the art of mitochondrial maintenance: The machinery of death makes a healthier life
woman walking at labyrinth
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova

Are sportier people better friends? New research looks at physical activity and close relationships
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