Why are male mice afraid of bananas?
Researchers from McGill University have identified a form of chemical signaling in mice to defend their offspring. The researchers found that proximity to pregnant and lactating female mice increased stress hormones in males and even decreased their.....»»
Sex and the single gene: New research shows a genetic "master switch" determines sex in most animals
In humans and other animals, sex is usually determined by a single gene. However, there are claims that in some species, such as platyfish, it takes a whole "parliament" of genes acting together to determine whether offspring develop as a male or fem.....»»
Biological age is increased by stress and restored upon recovery, shows DNA methylation clock study
The biological age of humans and mice undergoes a rapid increase in response to diverse forms of stress, which is reversed following recovery from stress, according to a study publishing on April 21 in the journal Cell Metabolism. These changes occur.....»»
Beau is Afraid review: a self-indulgent odyssey
Beau is Afraid is a purposefully annoying, overlong comedy from Hereditary director Ari Aster......»»
Pang Pha, the Asian elephant, taught herself how to peel a banana
The elephant only peels yellow-brown bananas when alone, and can do so faster than humans. An elephant named Pang Pha learned how to peel a banana with her trunk—but only yellow-brown bananas. Credit: Kaufmann et al., 2023/Current.....»»
Study finds oral barrier is similar in ceramide composition to skin barrier in mice
The skin is the body's first line of defense against the environment, particularly against pathogens, chemicals, and allergens. It is now known that a class of biological molecules called acylceramides and their metabolites, protein-bound ceramides,.....»»
Yellow crazy ant males have two sets of DNA
A small international team of molecular and evolutionary scientists has discovered that male yellow crazy ants (also known as long-legged ants) have two sets of DNA throughout their bodies. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group d.....»»
Growing cells on synthetic PIC gel could save millions of mice
The synthetic PIC gel, discovered in 2013 by Radboud University chemists, appears to behave like collagen. This makes the gel very useful for studying interactions between cells and their immediate environment. In practice, this means that the gel se.....»»
Sexual selection: Why do females prefer ornate male signals?
Sexual selection provides an answer to the existence of lavishly ornate signals in animals, but not to the question of why such signals are attractive—for example, why do females prefer the extravagant plumage of peacocks? As part of an internation.....»»
Counting male chickens before they hatch means good news for ethical farming
By identifying the gender of chicks in their eggs, technologies could help prevent the killing of millions of the birds every year......»»
Male beetles neglect their genomes when competing for females
Male beetles face a trade-off between competing with other males for mating opportunities and repairing damage to their sperm DNA, according to a study published April 4 in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Mareike Koppik from Uppsala Universit.....»»
Nanoparticle with mRNA appears to prevent, treat peanut allergies in mice
Peanut allergies affect 1 in 50 children, and the most severe cases lead to a potentially deadly immune reaction called anaphylactic shock......»»
From yeast to mice, from mice to man: Senescent cells get noisier with age
Getting old seems completely avoidable in youth but becomes less and less so as we age. Many of the obstacles of advanced aging are well understood, including declining eyesight, hearing loss, back, neck and arthritic joint pains, shortness of breath.....»»
Mice play virtual reality games to reveal how memories are selected for long-term storage
Neuroscientists watched the brains of mice as they played virtual reality games to elucidate how memory goes from its initial formation in the hippocampus to longer-term storage in the cortex. Reporting in the journal Cell on March 30, they found tha.....»»
Smells shown to influence metabolism and aging in mice
Exposure to female odors and pheromones causes weight loss and extends the life spans of mice, which may have implications for humans, University of Otago researchers have found......»»
Ghost rodents: Get ready to fall in love with Australia"s albino rats and mice
Discoveries of albino animals have a unique ability to capture the public imagination, often leading to flurries of social media and news coverage. (Think Migaloo, the famous white humpback whale.).....»»
Researchers discover a new way to fight the aging process and cancer development
A protein complex prevents the repair of genome damage in human cells, in mice and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a team of researchers at the University of Cologne has discovered. They also successfully inhibited this complex for the first.....»»
Deceptive daisy"s ability to create fake flies explained
A male fly approaches a flower, lands on top of what he thinks is a female fly, and jiggles around. He's trying to mate, but it isn't quite working. He has another go. Eventually he gives up and buzzes off, unsuccessful. The plant, meanwhile, has got.....»»
5 rules to make security user-friendly
My mother is 67 years old. She is a brilliant woman, educated and not at all afraid of technology. Yet, when I tried to get her to install Google Authenticator and use multi-factor authentication (MFA) for logging into applications, she found herself.....»»
Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 shows the secret to the shooter’s success
Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 shows that the shooter still isn't afraid to change, and that's what makes it special......»»
Antibody fragment-nanoparticle therapeutic eradicates gastric cancer, shows research
A novel cancer therapeutic, combining antibody fragments with molecularly engineered nanoparticles, permanently eradicated gastric cancer in treated mice, a multi-institutional team of researchers found......»»