I just got my hands on a recent book by two influential biologists, Marc Kirschner, chair of Harvard's recently created Systems Biology Department, and John Gerhart, a professor at UC Berkeley. Their…

Dividing is one of the trickiest things a cell has to do. The cell needs to faithfully copy its entire genome, with very few mistakes, and it needs to then divvy up those two genome copies equally…

A super-resolution X-ray microscope developed by a team of researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) and EPFL in Switzerland combines the high penetration power of x-rays with high spatial…

Hypochondriacs beware. The Rocky Mountain spotted fever and lyme disease caused by ticks is nothing to take lightly—especially in the dry season when ticks are most prominent, even more so due to…

Below is the final statement emerging from the Altenberg workshop, agreed upon by all 16 participants. Individual commentaries about the workshop will be posted on the KLI web site, and MIT Press…

I first came across the word synchrotron in connection with the Crab Nebula, as well explained here at Hyperphysics. However, the phenomenon is these days very much down-to-earth: last weekend I…

Reaching a finish line is an obstacle that does not begin or end with procrastination. A college dissertation, however, can be built on the foundations of such a behavior. Studies have proven that a…

"Survival of the fittest" is the catch phrase of evolution by natural selection. While natural selection favors the most fit organisms around, evolutionary biologists have long wondered whether this…

A team of researchers from the University of Manchester, the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Lyon and the ESRF has revealed how a growing crack interacts with the 3D crystal…

New research on the midshipman fish, a close relative of the toadfish, indicates that that the ability to make and respond to sound is an ancient part of the vertebrate success story. After building…

Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London have conducted a study that highlights how errors can occur in the eyewitness identification process of the criminal justice system. The study shows…

Some bacterial cells can swim, morph into new forms and even become dangerously virulent - all without initial involvement of DNA. Yale University researchers writing in Science describe how bacteria…

University of Alberta scientists contend they have the answer to mass extinction of animals and plants 93 million years ago. The answer, research has uncovered, has been found at the bottom of the…

New evidence that the brain regions responsible for vision are capable of adapting in adults offers new hope for those with an untreated condition commonly known as lazy eye. Also called amblyopia,…

Every moment we live, cells in our bodies are dying. One type of cell death activates an immune response while another type doesn't. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.…

Researchers at Queensland University of Technology have had good results with a trial vaccine for chlamydia, a disease which is decimating koala populations in the wild. Chlamydia in koalas was a…

“If you want to be happy for the rest of your life you need to make an ugly woman your wife,” or “if your rent is late and you might have to litigate, don’t worry, be happy,” are a few of the ways…

A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new…

Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life, according to two new studies based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance…

The key to good health is to be physically active. The key to being active is ... to be born that way? The well-documented importance of exercise in maintaining fitness has created the idea that…