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Life Sciences

Sunbeams filter down on a algae-covered rocks on a shallow seafloor.
Photo Credit
Johan Holmdahl via iStock
Oxygenated seafloors were likely the cradle of eukaryotic life.

Early complex life clung to oxygenated seafloors for hundreds of millions of years

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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
The head of a California red-legged frog peers out from lily pads
Photo Credit
Gary M. Fellers/USGS
California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) surfaces in a pond in Point Reyes National Seashore, Calif.

Seeding climate solutions for California’s amphibian communities and iconic beaches
fishers just off a Pacific island shore
Photo Credit
Jacob Eurich
Fishers coming home on a paddle canoe after fishing on the fore reefs of Abaiang, Kiribati

Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries
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