Where skeletons are rare, isolated teeth can flesh out our understanding of ancient reptile-dominated ecosystems, according to a study published September 8, 2021 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE by Ariana Paulina-Carabajal of INIBIOMA (Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente) and CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Argentina, and colleagues.

The world's most influential conservation congress, meeting in Marseille, will vote starting Wednesday on motions to protect and restore nature, including several that are mired in controversy.

Researchers have completed a comprehensive online map of the world's coral reefs by using more than 2 million satellite images from across the globe.

Research from the University of Kent, the University of Nottingham and L'Alliance Boviteq Inc., has established a method of significantly improving in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in cattle.

Like animals, plants need to be on a constant lookout to recognize and respond to invasion by microbes. Plant immunity consists of two branches—the initial defense begins with the detection of invaders by receptors at the cell surface, while a second alarm pathway is triggered by receptors within the cell.

Scientists have long believed that temperature—especially freezing cold—limits diversity of plant species as they proliferate out from the tropics and adapt to colder regions nearer the poles. The idea that temperature alone is behind the pattern of decreasing diversity is dubbed the tropical conservatism hypothesis.

Aquaculture creates many benefits for Maine people, including fresh seafood, stable jobs, and opportunities to enhance tourism, environmental conservation and community resilience. And, like all working waterfront activities, aquaculture operations occupy ocean space and are part of the busy coastal environment that we call home.

Many human diseases can differ between males and females in their prevalence, manifestation, severity or age of onset. Examples include Lupus, where more than 80% of patients are females; Alzheimer's disease, where females have higher incidence and tend to suffer quicker cognitive decline; and COVID-19 infections that are frequently more severe in males.

Two RIKEN researchers have discovered how, during cell division, one enzyme helps facilitate the tightly coordinated reorganization of chromosomal DNA into compact structures that can be evenly divided amongst the two resulting daughter cells1.

Flash-frozen sperm collected from corals in Florida and Puerto Rico was used to fertilize coral eggs from hundreds of miles away in Curaçao. The juvenile corals raised from this trans-Caribbean coupling demonstrate the reproductive compatibility of coral colonies that would otherwise be too far apart to produce offspring in the wild and they represent the largest wildlife population ever raised from cryopreserved material.

Scientists analyzed more than 31 million iNaturalist records in a new study to find out who most often uses the popular nature app and what types of observations they submit. iNaturalist allows anyone with a phone or camera and an Internet connection to upload and identify photos of plants and animals anywhere in the world. 

A new study explores how tuberculosis (TB) controls its own growth on a molecular level. The research team behind the study, led by the University of Surrey and the University of Oxford, propose that this identifies a new target for antibiotics against TB.  

Under the gray stone of a municipal highway department quarry, the oldest trees in the world left traces of their roots beneath a ridge and forest pool 385 million years ago.

Before humans made their way to New Zealand, the critically endangered flightless parrot known as the kākāpō likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. By 1995, their numbers had dwindled to just 51 birds, including 50 isolated on tiny Stewart Island and a single male, known as Richard Henry, all alone on the mainland. Today, those numbers have grown to about 200 individuals.

Researchers have developed artificial cell-like structures using inorganic matter that autonomously ingest, process, and push out material—recreating an essential function of living cells.

In a consensus article, Federico Pietrocola, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, KI, and colleagues explore the pathophysiological relevance of autophagy in human illnesses, while highlighting the therapeutic potential of autophagy-centered strategies in the clinic. This article represents a remarkable collective effort by the international autophagy community, serving a guide for basic and clinical scientists to get more insights on this fascinating process.

Natural killer cells do not just kill cancer cells or cells infected with viruses, they also mediate a trade-off between wound healing and bacterial defense in skin wounds. If the healing process is accelerated, the immune defense is weakened, researchers at the University of Zurich have now shown. This has relevance in treating skin injuries and in tackling antibiotic-resistant germs.

The creation of cellular structures similar to blastocysts has enabled KAUST scientists to build an in vitro model that mimics the earliest moments of human embryogenesis.

Princeton researchers have developed a new way to make fuel from cellulose—Earth's most abundant organic compound, found in all plant cells—speeding up a notoriously slow chemical process and in some cases doubling energy yields over comparable methods.

Iconic tyrannosauroids like T. rex famously dominated the top of the food web at the end of the reign of the dinosaurs. But they didn't always hold that top spot.

Your sedentary lap cat may not seem to share many similarities with its fierce relatives prowling the African savanna. But Stanford Medicine researchers have discovered a specific gene that drives much of the development of the stripes, blotches and spots that decorate all feline fur.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and University of Konstanz in Germany have identified how large land birds fly nonstop for hundreds of kilometers over the open ocean—without taking a break for food or rest. Using GPS tracking technology, the team monitored the global migration of five species of large land birds that complete long sea crossings. They found that all birds exploited wind and uplift to reduce energy costs during flight—even adjusting their migratory routes to benefit from the best atmospheric conditions. This is the most wide-ranging study of sea-crossing behavior yet and reveals the important role of the atmosphere in facilitating migration over the open sea for many terrestrial birds.

Global warming is a big challenge for warm-blooded animals, which must maintain a constant internal body temperature. As anyone who's experienced heatstroke can tell you, our bodies become severely stressed when we overheat.

While we're all rightly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic at the moment, the SARS-CoV-2 virus isn't the only microbial threat we face.

We have discovered previously unappreciated differences between some male and female gibbons and siamang that could give us new clues about how social behavior affected primate evolution.