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Biology

Image of Trichoplax adhaerens moving against a black background.
biophysics

This Animal’s Behavior Is Mechanically Programmed

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 16, 2022
Read Later

Biomechanical interactions, rather than neurons, control the movements of one of the simplest animals. The discovery offers a glimpse into how animal behavior worked before neurons evolved.

An illustration of a polyglycine molecule among the constellations.
origins of life

Peptides on Stardust May Have Provided a Shortcut to Life

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
March 8, 2022
Read Later

The discovery that short peptides can form spontaneously on cosmic dust hints at more of a role for them in the earliest stages of life’s origin, on Earth or elsewhere.

Photo of genetically engineered zebra fish larva with fluorescent markings in its brain.
memory

Scientists Watch a Memory Form in a Living Brain

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
March 3, 2022
Read Later

While watching a fearful memory take shape in the brain of a living fish, neuroscientists see an unexpected level of rewiring occur in the synaptic connections.

computational biology

Most Complete Simulation of a Cell Probes Life’s Hidden Rules

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
February 24, 2022
Read Later

A 3D digital model of a “minimal cell” leads scientists closer to understanding the barest requirements for life.

neural networks

AI Overcomes Stumbling Block on Brain-Inspired Hardware

By Allison Whitten
February 17, 2022
Read Later

Algorithms that use the brain’s communication signal can now work on analog neuromorphic chips, which closely mimic our energy-efficient brains.

A collage of images related to cell fusion, viruses, fusexin proteins and cells.
sex

A Billion Years Before Sex, Ancient Cells Were Equipped for It

By Jake Buehler
February 16, 2022
Read Later

Molecular detective work is zeroing in on the origins of sexual reproduction. The protein tools for cell mergers seem to have long predated sex — so what were they doing?

neuroscience

New Map of Meaning in the Brain Changes Ideas About Memory

By Jordana Cepelewicz
February 8, 2022
Read Later

Researchers have mapped hundreds of semantic categories to the tiny bits of the cortex that represent them in our thoughts and perceptions. What they discovered might change our view of memory.

An artist’s 3D illustration of chromosomes splitting and fusing together.
genomics

Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome ‘Tectonics’

By Viviane Callier
February 2, 2022
Read Later

Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the first animal chromosomes came to be.

Illustration of a person remembering the orientation of an arrow, but also a range of other orientations it might have had.
neuroscience

Neural Noise Shows the Uncertainty of Our Memories

By Veronique Greenwood
January 18, 2022
Read Later

The electrical chatter of our working memories reflects our uncertainty about their contents.


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