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biology

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When Does the Brain Operate at Peak Performance?

By John M. Beggs
January 31, 2023
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The critical brain hypothesis suggests that neural networks do their best work when connections are not too weak or too strong.

A sad woman stands under an umbrella that is decorated with images of brains, molecules and DNA. Rain falls on her under the umbrella but the day is otherwise clear.
neuroscience

The Cause of Depression Is Probably Not What You Think

By Joanna Thompson
January 26, 2023
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Depression has often been blamed on low levels of serotonin in the brain. That answer is insufficient, but alternatives are coming into view and changing our understanding of the disease.

Illustration of a mother holding an infant, with strands of DNA running between the bacteria inside them.
microbiome

Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
January 17, 2023
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Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant’s bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.

Nikta Fakhri looks at a test tube.
Q&A

Starfish Whisperer Develops a Physical Language of Life

By Charlie Wood
January 11, 2023
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Nikta Fakhri is adapting and extending concepts from physics to describe how tiny biological components give rise to living organisms.

An African army ant queen and worker against a white background, emphasizing the huge difference in their sizes
aging

Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses

By Viviane Callier
January 10, 2023
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Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their longevity secrets could mean for aging in other species.

Illustration of asteroids in space that are interconnected into a structure like that of the amino acid glycine.
explainers

Inside Ancient Asteroids, Gamma Rays Made Building Blocks of Life

By John Rennie +1 authors
Allison Parshall
January 4, 2023
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A new radiation-based mechanism adds to the ways that amino acids could have been made in space and brought to the young Earth.

2022 in Review

The Year in Biology

By John Rennie
December 21, 2022
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Momentum for new ideas in Alzheimer’s research joined advances in neuroscience, developmental biology and origin-of-life studies to make 2022 a memorable year of biological insights.

Holly Moeller walks along Campus Point Beach.
Q&A

She Finds Keys to Ecology in Cells That Steal From Others

By Veronique Greenwood
December 19, 2022
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The ecologist Holly Moeller studies microorganisms that expand their range by absorbing organelles and gaining new metabolic talents from their prey.

Illustration in which a forest scene is mirrored in a person’s right eye while the left eye shows a clock.
neuroscience

How the Brain Distinguishes Memories From Perceptions

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
December 14, 2022
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The neural representations of a perceived image and the memory of it are almost the same. New work shows how and why they are different.


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