Guanidine is an organic compound primarily used as a denaturing reagent to disrupt the structures of proteins and nucleic acids. Together with partner institutions, scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have…
Category: 5. Biology
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Cyanobacteria can utilize toxic guanidine as a nitrogen source
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Microgravity on International Space Station Alters Coevolution of Bacteriophages and Their Hosts
In new experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS), microbiologists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Rhodium Scientific Inc. have discovered that the near-weightless environment of space can significantly reshape how…
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How a soft coral moves its tentacles in perfect synchronization without a brain
A joint study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa set out to solve a scientific mystery: how a soft coral is able to perform the rhythmic, pulsating movements of its tentacles without a central nervous system. The study’s findings…
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Obesity study reveals gut fat’s unique inflammatory role and immune cell richness
Abdominal fat is not a uniform tissue. A new study from Karolinska Institutet, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, and Helmholtz Munich reveals that fat located close to the large intestine contains an unusually high number of…
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Sparse tongue hair explains why queen bees stop foraging when workers emerge
During spring, when queen bumblebees first emerge from hibernation to start their nests, they work incredibly hard foraging for nectar to fuel their new colonies. But then, as soon as their first workers are born, they seem to slack off.
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A tiny mouse hints at why some mammal mothers may benefit from choosing more than one father
Many animals do something that still surprises researchers: females often mate with more than one male. This behavior—polyandry—has long raised a blunt question. Why divide offspring among multiple fathers, and does it help mothers or young…
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Myth of Native Hawaiians causing bird extinctions debunked by study
Challenging a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaiʻi’s native birds, a new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found no scientific evidence that Indigenous People hunted waterbird species to extinction. Published in the journal…
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Strange New Side of Viral Evolution Revealed on the International Space Station
Viruses that infect bacteria can still do their job in microgravity, but space changes the rules of the fight. In a new experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station, scientists found that viruses which infect bacteria can still…
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Asexual yam species employs mimicry to trick birds and spread farther
Evolutionarily speaking, the ultimate goal of a lifeform is to reproduce and stave off extinction. Many plants and animals have evolved unique tricks to do so. One of these tricks is mimicry, which might be used to trick other species into…
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Catastrophic heat wave wiped out 2 endangered corals in the Florida Keys… now what?
Once a picturesque garden beneath the sea, some stretches of the Florida Coral Reef have now become graveyards. Unburied coral skeletons stand as haunting remnants of the catastrophic marine heat wave that swept through in the summer of 2023,…
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