Biological Science: Research Guide

Even in some of the most isolated corners of the Pacific, plastic pollution has quietly worked its way into the food web. A large analysis of fish caught around Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu found that roughly one in three contained microplastics, with Fiji standing out for especially high contamination. Reef and bottom-dwelling fish were most affected, linking exposure to where fish live and how they feed.

A new study finds that a trait helping a marine bacterium survive and flourish today may ultimately become its Achilles Heel as ocean conditions continue to shift. For decades, SAR11 bacteria have been held up as a model of ocean efficiency: tiny microbes that thrive where food is scarce. But a new study suggests that [...]

Scientists have uncovered a direct molecular mechanism by which gut bacteria inject proteins into human cells, reshaping immune responses and potentially driving inflammatory disease. Scientists have discovered that bacteria living in the human gut can directly transfer their own proteins into human cells, influencing how the immune system responds. The work, led by researchers at [...]

In Yellowstone, cougars coexist with wolves by changing what they eat and where they hunt, minimizing conflict driven largely by prey theft. New research shows that encounters between wolves and cougars in Yellowstone National Park are shaped mainly by wolves taking over prey that cougars have already killed. The study also finds that cougars reduce [...]

SpaceX Crew-12 is in quarantine as NASA prepares for its next journey to the space station. The four astronauts selected for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission have begun a standard two-week quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The isolation period started is part of routine preparations ahead of their upcoming launch to the International [...]

Scientists have unveiled a powerful new method for predicting Arctic sea ice months in advance, just as climate change drives rapid ice loss. Arctic sea ice plays a powerful role in regulating Earth’s climate. By reflecting sunlight and cooling the planet, it helps shape ocean currents, atmospheric circulation, and extreme weather patterns far beyond the [...]

Failing kidneys may be quietly sending toxic signals that damage the heart. Scientists have identified a key reason why more than half of people with chronic kidney disease eventually die from heart-related conditions. New evidence shows that damaged kidneys release a substance into the bloodstream that directly harms the heart. The research, conducted by teams [...]

New research suggests that long-standing assumptions about sex and gender continue to shape how studies are designed, interpreted, and reported. Researchers at the University of British Columbia say a basic question is still being answered unevenly in exercise physiology: whose bodies are used to define “normal” human responses to training, fatigue, and recovery. In a [...]

A large global genetics study shows that many key drivers of Type 2 diabetes operate outside the bloodstream. Scientists are getting a clearer picture of why Type 2 diabetes is so hard to pin down. In a major international project led in part by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Helmholtz Munich in Germany, researchers [...]

A newly identified Earth-sized exoplanet with a year-long orbit may lie near its star’s habitable zone, but extreme cold could limit its chances of hosting liquid water. HD 137010 b is a newly identified planet that appears broadly similar to Earth, but with one important caveat. Despite its Earth-like traits, it may be even colder [...]

A flat plane of dark matter beyond the Local Group may explain why nearby galaxies move away from us instead of falling inward. Astronomers using advanced computer simulations have discovered that most of the matter beyond the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, is arranged in a vast, [...]

Hidden mega-structures deep inside Earth may have been quietly steering our planet’s magnetic field—and rewriting what we thought we knew about Earth’s past. Peering into Earth’s interior is far more difficult than exploring space. Humans have traveled about 25 billion km beyond our planet, yet the deepest drill hole ever made reaches just over 12 [...]

A newly identified protein helps aging brains regenerate neural stem cells. Scientists at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), have identified a molecular switch that helps aging brains maintain their ability to generate new nerve cells. The discovery centers on a protein that appears to revive the regenerative [...]

Scientists discovered why some neurons resist tau toxicity, identifying CRL5SOCS4 as a crucial defense and linking mitochondrial stress to harmful tau fragments. New research by UCLA Health and UC San Francisco has uncovered why certain brain cells are more resilient than others to the buildup of a toxic protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s [...]

Waist-to-height ratio outperforms BMI in predicting heart disease risk, particularly among people who are not classified as obese. A simple comparison between waist size and height may offer a clearer picture of heart disease risk than the long-used body mass index (BMI), according to new findings from physician-scientists at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. [...]

Researchers have uncovered how atoms subtly rearrange themselves for up to a trillionth of a second before releasing low-energy electrons after X-ray excitation. Together with collaborators from around the world, scientists from the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute have uncovered how atoms change their arrangement before emitting low energy electrons during a [...]

As demand for critical metals grows, scientists have taken a rare, close look at life on the deep Pacific seabed where mining may soon begin. Over five years and 160 days at sea, researchers documented nearly 800 species, many previously unknown. Test mining reduced animal abundance and diversity significantly, though the overall impact was smaller than expected. The study offers vital clues for how future mining could reshape one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.

SAR11 bacteria dominate the world’s oceans by being incredibly efficient, shedding genes to survive in nutrient-poor waters. But that extreme streamlining appears to backfire when conditions change. Under stress, many cells keep copying their DNA without dividing, creating abnormal cells that grow large and die. This vulnerability may explain why SAR11 populations drop during phytoplankton blooms and could become more important as oceans grow less stable.

A century of hair samples shows how environmental rules helped slash Americans’ lead exposure by up to 100 times. Before the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970, lead pollution was deeply embedded in everyday American life. Communities were exposed through industrial activity, lead-based paint, aging water pipes, and most heavily through vehicle exhaust. Lead [...]

Alcohol exposure before birth may quietly set the brain on a path toward risky drinking decades later. A new study published today (February 2) in JNeurosci examines how exposure to alcohol and stress before birth can influence brain function and drinking behavior later in life. Led by Mary Schneider and Alexander Converse at the University [...]

New research has found that people who consume higher levels of nitrate from vegetables have a lower risk of developing dementia, while those who get more nitrate and nitrite from animal-based foods, processed meats, and drinking water face a higher risk of dementia. New findings from Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the Danish Cancer Research [...]

When you don’t sleep enough, your brain may clean itself at the exact moment you need it to think. Most people recognize the sensation. After a night of inadequate sleep, staying focused becomes harder than usual. Thinking feels slower, attention wanders, and simple tasks take more effort than they should. Researchers at MIT have now [...]

A new oral compound can reset the circadian clock independent of timing, dramatically speeding recovery from jet lag in animal models. Most people have felt it: that foggy, out-of-sync sensation after a late-night flight, an all-nighter, or a sudden switch to overnight work. It happens because the body runs on a built-in 24-hour timekeeper, the [...]

Even at just two months old, babies’ brains are already quietly sorting the world into meaning. New findings from neuroscientists at Trinity College Dublin reveal that babies just two months old can already organize what they see into distinct object categories. This ability appears far earlier than scientists once believed and suggests that key elements [...]

Climate change, deforestation, and habitat loss are making forests more uniform, with fast-growing species increasingly dominating the landscape. As native trees are displaced, biodiversity declines, resistance to disease weakens, and forests lose much of their ability to store CO₂. Trees are essential to life on Earth. They absorb and store CO₂, support animals, fungi, and [...]

Ancient magnetic fossils reveal that animal navigation using Earth’s magnetic field may have evolved far earlier than previously known. Researchers have uncovered what appears to be the oldest known evidence of an internal navigation system in an animal, a finding that may help explain how modern birds and fish developed the ability to orient themselves [...]

This is the first report of remote touch in humans. It changes how we understand the human perceptual world and may have applications in robotics and assistive technologies, including exploration, search and rescue, and archaeology. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and University College London have uncovered evidence that humans possess a previously unrecognized [...]

Scientists studying ancient ocean sediments discovered a surprising link between the shrinking of West Antarctica’s ice and the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. A new study published today (February 2) in Nature Geoscience finds that shifts in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) closely followed changes in marine algae growth in the Southern [...]

High-tech “super shoes” are no longer just for Olympians, offering measurable performance gains through innovative design. Once limited to elite athletes at the Olympics and other major running competitions, the so-called “super shoe” has moved beyond the podium and onto everyday roads and paths. You are now just as likely to see them at a [...]

A new study suggests that some of the most counterintuitive features of quantum physics may not need to be engineered at all. At the most fundamental level of physics, nature does not behave locally. Particles separated by vast distances can act not as independent objects, but as components of a single quantum system. Researchers in [...]