In a first, researchers genetically modified hookworms. It’s a step toward turning the parasites into living pharmacies.
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DNA preserved in ancient scat reveals what Yukon ground squirrels ate and what animals shared their world.
During courtship, male scissor-tailed nightjars crack their wings together to make a sharp snapping sound. It's the result of colliding arm bones.
Some fossilized filaments are giving Earth’s first flying vertebrates a shiny new makeover.
At least one species of pterosaur shimmered in iridescent greens and magentas , scientists report May 10 at bioRxiv.org. The discovery reshapes what we know about the fearsome flying reptiles, hinting at heightened metabolisms and hidden courtship displays.
“This is one of the most intriguing and surprising fossil discoveries of the past few years,” says paleontologist Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved with the research.
The new work focuses on a previously unexamined specimen of Sinopterus dongi , a small pterosaur whose wingspan could reach nearly 2 meters. Found in northeast China, the fossil is more than 120 million years old and shows evidence of extraordinary soft tissue preservation, offering an unusual glimpse into how pterosaurs might have looked.
“Soft tissue preservation at this level of fidelity is incredibly rare,” says David Martill, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth in England who was not involved with the work.
Prior research has found that pterosaurs had pigment-containing structures known as melanosomes in their pycnofibers — small filaments of different shapes and sizes, with many similar to protofeathers found in some dinosaurs. Those findings have long led paleontologists to envision pterosaurs with colorful patterns on their crests and other body parts. But the finding that they might be iridescent is something new.
Iridescence occurs when an object reflects different colors depending on the viewing angle, creating a kaleidoscopic spectacle. It has evolved many times in the natural world — in insects, birds and even some plants and fungi. In each case, the shimmer comes from layered structures that scatter light and split it into myriad colors.
For the new study, researchers scrutinized the fossil’s microscopic structure using scanning electron microscopy and other techniques. They found that the…
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When people drop weight on GLP-1 meds, they can also lose muscle. But a proof-of-concept drug might help preserve this lean tissue.
When taken at the same time as a powerful weight loss medication, the experimental antibody let patients hang on to lean body mass , scientists report June 8 in Nature Medicine .
The drug has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is available only via intravenous infusions, so it’s not something consumers are likely to get their hands on any time soon, says study coauthor Richard Pratley, a clinician and metabolic disease researcher at the AdventHealth Translational Research Institute in Orlando, Fla. But the work cracks open the door on how to save muscle that might otherwise be lost. That may be good news for GLP-1 users, but important questions remain.
Scientists don’t know if retaining lean mass like this actually translates to better health. They also don’t know the long-term effects or whether such drugs might help people beyond GLP-1 users, like older individuals whose muscles are shrinking with age. “We need to learn what these medications are capable of,” Pratley says.
GLP-1 drugs can spark drastic and rapid weight loss. But not all the weight lost is fat. Some 25 to 40 percent is lean body mass, which includes a person’s muscle, organs and blood. Though patients may lose some muscle when they drop lean mass, it may be less than people think, says Randy Seeley, an obesity researcher at University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor who was not involved with the study. Despite what you hear from social media influencers about the importance of maintaining muscle mass when taking Ozempic, he says, for most people, “this isn’t a problem that needs to be solved.”
That view is supported by clinical trials on GLP-1 drugs. For most participants, Pratley says, losing lean body mass doesn’t…
The result is correct but challenges core norms of mathematics: checking proofs, crediting ideas and keeping research open to everyone.
Over more than a decade at Mars, the orbiter revealed how the solar wind strips away the planet’s atmosphere — and why the world lost its water.
A shrimp vaccine for commercial use could protect the environment and prove vaccines aren’t just for vertebrates.
The deep-sea octopus is fully mature despite fitting in a palm, a trait researchers think may help it reproduce faster than larger relatives.
Making social connection part of job design, whether people work remotely, hybrid or in-person, is key to supporting employees‘ well-being.
With no training, bumblebees can work out how to use a ball like a ladder to feed on sugar from an out-of-reach flower.
New observations suggest the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s core is blowing gas away from the central behemoth.
Queen-cell wax helps shape honeybee queen development, challenging the idea that royal jelly alone makes a queen, a new study suggests.
Answers to key questions could help public health officials develop Ebola treatments, predict the outbreak’s trajectory and prevent a future one.
The cold-loving yeasts from Ötzi’s remains suggest the Iceman’s microbiome may not be completely frozen in time.
Swapping materials in its Majorana 2 chip boosted the effectiveness of quantum bits that rely on the math of topology to reduce errors, Microsoft says.
Physicist Richard Feynman turned a lunch dilemma into a math problem. Researchers finally cracked his notes and found people approximate his solution on their own.
A new survey estimates 8 million young people use AI chatbots for help when stressed, angry or sad, an increase from 2024.
Tones, oddball sounds and words can spark brain cell responses, hinting at nuanced processing without consciousness.
Daraxonrasib, which nearly doubled patients' survival time, fights the disease in a new way. It bear-hugs a cancer protein that drives cell growth.
A mathematician found the most efficient way to fold paper into a doughnutlike shape.
The debate could reopen in 2030 when NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft gets the closest view of the icy moon’s surface.
How animals navigate by Earth's magnetic field is hotly debated. New research in pigeons points to iron-laden liver immune cells as the compass.
Lab experiments suggest mosquitoes can smell DEET and learn to associate it with food, but it’s unclear whether that happens in the wild.
The new test may catch active tuberculosis in those with low access to health care or who have trouble making the phlegm needed for traditional tests.