Formica wood ant. Credit: PixaobayLocking together beneficial traits, supergenes confer significant evolutionary advantages. However, this association comes with potential costs, as it becomes exceedingly challenging to eliminate detrimental mutations.Traditionally, it has been believed that sexual reproduction evolved as a means for organisms to mix or recombine different alleles (gene variations) in the next generation, creating...
Credit: Lamp Soul Studio/Getty ImagesA 3D-printed catheter creates a miniature obstacle course to thwart microbes, addressing widespread infections in hospital settings.Over 100 million people globally need a urinary catheter annually, which is crucial post-surgery. Yet, around one quarter in developing nations and about an eighth in the U.S. who use them may experience catheter-associated urinary...
A new study has offered challenging new insights into evolution and could revolutionize our approach to multiple real-world issues. Credit:Unsplash.Recent research challenges the notion that evolution is unpredictable, shedding light on how a genome's past influences its future trajectory. With implications ranging from synthetic biology to medicine and environmental science, this discovery offers new possibilities...
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA/IEEECredit: IEEE SpectrumOver a long period of evolution, vines honed the skill of finding light and growing toward it, ensuring their access to the sunlight needed for survival. Recently, scientists made a crawler robot inspired by vines capable of mimicking this behavior by moving toward light and heat sources. This...
Trees aren't just awkward sleeping spots for these bashful bears. Credit: PixabayResearchers have found that giant pandas, traditionally believed to be solitary and antisocial creatures, actually engage in a surprisingly active social life, resembling the way individuals share updates on Facebook. This discovery provides a new perspective on the social behavior of these...
Credit: PixaobayA group of environmental scientists from Hubei University, China, along with a researcher from the University of Iceland, discovered that blind spiders residing in deep caves in China can still detect and respond to light. Their study, published in Science Advances, involved testing two groups of spiders living in cave systems in southwestern...
Credit: DepositphotosResearchers in the United Kingdom are currently testing the first male contraceptive pill. This raises the question of whether men are willing to actively participate or if they prefer women to continue shouldering the entire burden of deciding when and whether to reproduce.Historically, women have borne the predominant burden of preventing pregnancy, often...
Credit: PixaobayThe preserved specimens of amber display distinct mouthparts that are currently found only in female individualsA mosquito is probably female if you swat it on your arm or neck. Only female mosquitoes feed on blood, providing the protein they need to develop eggs. Males consume plant fluids and nectar as females' skin-piercing mouthparts...
Chimpanzees, as well as bonobos, recognize long-lost friends and family . Creditt: PixaobayApes outshine many of us as they promptly recognize family and friends even after a gap of over two decades, marking the longest-recorded "social memory" in a non-human species.Providing crucial understanding of the evolution of human social recognition, the Johns Hopkins University study...
A study has found that the discharge from an electric eel can transfer environmental DNA to nearby animalsDepositphotosA recent investigation indicates that the electrical discharge from an electric eel is potent enough to facilitate the transfer of genetic material from the surroundings into the cells of neighboring animals.In laboratory conditions, electroporation refers to applying...
