🧬 Latest in Biology

Number of articles fetched: 34

• Telehealth can improve care for cats with chronic health issues
  Researchers found telehealth visits can improve care for cats with feline arthritis.
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• Eating an array of smaller fish could be nutrient-dense solution to overfishing
  To satisfy the seafood needs of billions of people, offering them access to a more biodiverse array of fish creates opportunities to mix-and-match species to obtain better nutrition from smaller portions of fish.
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• Tea, berries, dark chocolate and apples could lead to a longer life span, study shows
  New research has found that those who consume a diverse range of foods rich in flavonoids, such as tea, berries, dark chocolate, and apples, could lower their risk of developing serious health conditions and have the potential to live longer.
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• Being in nature can help people with chronic back pain manage their condition
  Researchers asked patients, some of whom had experienced lower back pain for up to 40 years, if being in nature helped them coped better with their lower back pain. They found that people able to spend time in their own gardens saw some health and wellbeing benefits. However, those able to immerse themselves in larger green spaces such as forests felt even more positive, as they were able to lose themselves in the environment and focus more on that than their pain levels. The researchers have recommended trying to incorporate time spent in nature into people's treatments plans, and are also using their findings to develop virtual reality interventions that allow people to experience some of the benefits of being in nature without the need to travel anywhere if they are unable to do so.
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• DNA floating in the air tracks wildlife, viruses -- even drugs
  Environmental DNA from the air, captured with simple air filters, can track everything from illegal drugs to the wildlife it was originally designed to study.
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• Two plant species invent the same chemically complex and medically interesting substance
  The biosynthesis of the great variety of natural plant products has not yet been elucidated for many medically interesting substances. In a new study, an international team of researchers was able to show how ipecacuanha alkaloids, substances used in traditional medicine, are synthesized. They compared two distantly related plant species and were able to show that although both plant species use a comparable chemical approach, the enzymes they need for synthesis differ and a different starting material is used. Further investigations revealed that the biosynthetic pathways of these complex chemical compounds have developed independently in the two species. These results help to enable the synthesis of these and related substances on a larger scale for medical use.
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• Clinical research on psychedelics gets a boost from new study
  As psychedelics gain traction as potential treatments for mental health disorders, an international study stands to improve the rigor and reliability of clinical research.
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• Baboons walk in line for friendship, not survival, new study finds
  Researchers have discovered that baboons walk in lines, not for safety or strategy, but simply to stay close to their friends.
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• Large-scale immunity profiling grants insights into flu virus evolution
  A new study shows how person-to-person variation in antibody immunity plays a key role in shaping which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a population.
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• Record high: Study finds growing cannabis use among older adults
  Marijuana use among older adults in the US has reached a new high, with 7 percent of adults aged 65 and over who report using it in the past month, according to a recent analysis.
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• The sweet spot: sugar-based sensors to revolutionize snake venom detection
  Researchers have published the first example of a synthetic sugar detection test for snake venom, offering a new route to rapid diagnosis and better antivenoms.
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• Nitrogen loss on sandy shores: The big impact of tiny anoxic pockets
  Some microbes living on sand grains use up all the oxygen around them. Their neighbors, left without oxygen, make the best of it: They use nitrate in the surrounding water for denitrification -- a process hardly possible when oxygen is present. This denitrification in sandy sediments in well-oxygenated waters can substantially contribute to nitrogen loss in the oceans.
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• Hot blob beneath Appalachians formed when Greenland split from North America — and it's heading to New York
  A hot blob currently beneath the Appalachians may have peeled off from Greenland around 80 million years ago and moved to where it is today at a rate of 12 miles per million years, scientists have found.
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• A mysterious barrier in the Atlantic divides weird deep-sea jellyfish cousins
  Researchers have mapped the distribution of a jellyfish subspecies and found that creatures which lack a distinctive "knob" are somehow prevented from leaving the Arctic.
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• Dementia: Facts about Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
  Learn about dementia, how it affects people, how it's diagnosed and what treatments are available.
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• This 'super-Earth' exoplanet 35 light-years away might have what it takes to support life
  A super-Earth exoplanet has been detected within the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf star, where liquid water might exist on its surface under the right atmospheric conditions.
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• 400-mile-long chain of fossilized volcanoes discovered beneath China
  Researchers recently discovered a huge chain of extinct volcanoes buried deep below South China that formed when two tectonic plates collided during the breakup of Rodinia, around 800 million years ago.
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• 4,000-year-old handprint discovered on ancient Egyptian tomb offering
  Researchers have unveiled an ancient Egyptian handprint that was left on a soul house tomb offering 4,000 years ago.
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• Mitochondria aren't only the 'powerhouses of cells' — they also battle germs
  Mitchondria may be "watchtowers" of the immune system, contributing to our defenses against germs.
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• Scientists discover fast-spinning 'unicorn' object that defies physics
  Astronomers have detected a puzzling 'unicorn' object that's speeding up rather than slowing down, contrary to the laws of physics.
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• Scientists use quantum machine learning to create semiconductors for the first time – and it could transform how chips are made
  Researchers have found a way to make the chip design and manufacturing process much easier — by tapping into a hybrid blend of artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
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• 'Ghost island' appears after underwater eruption, then vanishes into the Caspian Sea — Earth from space
  A series of photos taken between 2022 and 2024 shows the emergence and rapid disappearance of a volcanic "ghost island" off the coast of Azerbaijan.
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• NASA spacecraft snaps images of lunar transit and Earth eclipse on the same day — see the photos
  The Solar Dynamics Observatory saw a lunar transit and an Earth eclipse on July 25 — the first when the moon passed between it and the sun, and another when Earth did the same.
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• Planned C-sections linked to increased risk of childhood leukemia, study finds
  A new study underscores a known link between planned C-sections and the risk of ALL, a childhood cancer. But overall, the risk is still very small, experts caution.
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• The Manhattan gunman believed he had CTE. What does that mean?
  The gunman accused of killing four people in New York City suspected he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — a degenerative brain disease often associated with football players.
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• Trump's EPA wants to eliminate regulation for greenhouse gases
  The Trump administration proposes eliminating a 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger people. That would undermine the EPA's climate change regulations for power plants and cars.
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• The EPA proposes gutting its greenhouse gas rules. Here's what it means for cars and pollution
  The Trump administration has effectively eliminated two rules designed to promote cleaner cars. Now, as the EPA suggests not considering carbon dioxide to be pollution, the last rule is poised to fall.
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• Summers are getting hotter. Here's how experts say to cope with it
  Much of the country is deep in the middle of a heat wave right now. And every summer, Duane Stilwell's town in Arizona seems to get hotter. It has him worried — and he's not the only one. Since 1980, the average number of heat waves in the U.S has doubled and the average length of a heat wave season has increased from 40 days to 70. Future summers, experts say, will be even hotter. But why exactly is that happening, and what can people do to protect themselves from the heat?
  
  This episode is part of Nature Quest, a monthly segment that answers listeners' questions about their local environment. If you have a question, send a voice memo to shortwave@npr.org that includes it, your name and where you live. We might make it into our next Nature Quest episode!
  
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• Trying to keep your brain young? A big new study finds these lifestyle changes help
  A study of more than 2,100 people ages 60 to 79 found that an intensive two-year program of mental and physical activities, along with a heart-healthy diet, improved memory and thinking.
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• Don't wait for the Perseids in August — look for meteors this week
  A bright moon will make it hard to see the Perseid meteor shower in mid-August, but one night this week offers a decent chance of seeing some shooting stars.
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• How the largest daily migration on Earth stores carbon in the ocean
  The twilight zone of the ocean is a mysterious place. At 200-1000 meters below the surface, it's a tough place to study. That's why, during World War II, people reading sonograms from this zone were perplexed when it looked as if the ocean floor was moving up. Every day. And then back down again before dawn. In this latest installment of Sea Camp, we explore what this historical mystery has to do with the Earth's ability to cycle and store carbon in the ocean's watery depths.
  
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  Interested in more ocean mysteries? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org.
  
  Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
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• Nearly 4,000 NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program
  The employees who have chosen to leave the agency amount to about 20% of NASA's workforce.
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• Scientists study how people would react to a neurotic robot personality in real life
  Neurotic robots are a staple of science fiction. One study recently found that neurotic traits in a robot can make them seem more relatable.
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• This flesh-eating parasite is a potential threat to herds across the country
  NPR's Scott Simon speaks with entomologist Edwin Burgess about a plan to combat flash-eating maggots threatening U.S. livestock. It involves breeding billions of flies and dropping them from planes.
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