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The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues

By R. Douglas Fields
August 28, 2023
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Sticking out your tongue while doing delicate work with your hands reveals a history of evolutionary relationships.

The curling bodies of two differently colored roundworms overlap with a virus-shaped element in the background.
genomics

Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species

By Saugat Bolakhe
August 3, 2023
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Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the large-scale smuggling of DNA between species.

developmental biology

Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
July 26, 2023
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The reshuffling of neurons during fruit fly metamorphosis suggests that larval memories don’t persist in adults.

The Joy of Why

What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics?

By Steven Strogatz
June 28, 2023
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Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine and mathematics. John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert, talks with Steven Strogatz about what jellyfish can teach us about going with the flow.

Different species of plants grow from the hubs of horizontal gears that mesh like clockwork.
ecology

The Key to Species Diversity May Be in Their Similarities

By Veronique Greenwood
June 26, 2023
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New modeling work suggests why nature is more diverse than niche-based ecological theory predicts.

Underside of a skate embryo, stained in blue, on a salmon pink background.
evolution

How 3D Changes in the Genome Turned Sharks Into Skates

By Viviane Callier
May 30, 2023
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Changes in the 3D structure of their genome gave skates and rays their distinctive winglike fins and pancake flatness.

Quantized Columns

Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed

By R. Douglas Fields
April 19, 2023
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In all bilaterally symmetrical animals, from humans down to simple worms, nerves cross from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain. Geometry may explain why.

Q&A

She Tracks the DNA of Elusive Species That Hide in Harsh Places

By Rachel Crowell
April 17, 2023
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On Mount Everest and in the Peruvian Andes, Tracie Seimon uses DNA to study how species and ecosystems respond to climate change, pathogens and other influences.

Aerial view of forest at the edge of clear-cut land. The vegetation growing back in the clearing is not forest.
ecology

Simpler Math Predicts How Close Ecosystems Are to Collapse

By Anna Gibbs
March 6, 2023
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By replacing thousands of equations with just one, ecology modelers can more accurately assess how close fragile environments are to a disastrous “tipping point.”


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