The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating FrogCarly Anne YorkBasic Books, $30 What’s the purpose of your study? It’s the question many basic-science researchers dread. And it’s the question that Carly…
Category: Life
Psychedelics May Shift Brain Power to the Right Hemisphere
Summary: A new theory suggests that psychedelics promote empathy, insight, and psychological flexibility by making the brain’s right hemisphere temporarily dominant over the left. Known as HEALS—Hemispheric Annealing and Lateralization…
Public support for CRISPR gene edited food surges in the UK
The UK is backing emerging innovation to protect the future of our food supply, with 69% of UK adults strongly supporting gene editing to create a sustainable and resilient future…
Early Bonding Buffers Kids from Lasting Effects of Maternal Depression
Summary: A new study highlights the lasting impact of postpartum maternal depression and mother-to-infant bonding on children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. Researchers found that early bonding can partially offset the…
What gene makes orange cats orange? Scientists figured it out
Researchers found the gene and genetic variation behind orange fur in most domestic cats, solving a decades-long mystery.
Contribute to our Pride Month Blog Series! – Functional Ecologists
To celebrate Pride Month in June, we are relaunching our Rainbow Research blog series! This series aims to promote the visibility and inclusion of ecologists and evolutionary biologists from the…
Cryopreservation is not sci-fi. It may save plants from extinction
Early one morning in 1985, a pair of researchers trekked into a spit of Colombian rainforest surrounded by coffee plantations. Their task was to identify all the epiphytes — plants…
Weight loss in female birds – an adaptive strategy – Functional Ecologists
In this blog post, Tim Forrester helps answer a weighty question: Does weight loss help or hurt nesting birds? Based on his recent paper with Tom Martin, “Observational and experimental…
This exquisite Archaeopteryx fossil reveals how flight took off in birds
An exceptionally preserved specimen of the ancient bird Archaeopteryx offers the most detailed window yet into the evolution of flight, researchers report online May 14 in Nature. The remarkable preservation…
Tiny Gene Fragment Key to Memory Revealed
Summary: Researchers have discovered that a nine–amino acid microexon spliced into the DAAM1 gene is critical for memory formation, functioning exclusively in neurons. Deleting this microexon in mice resulted in…
