We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
  • Physics

  • Mathematics

  • Biology

  • Computer Science

  • Topics

  • Archive

What's up in

biology

Nick Lane of University College London in an exhibit hall at the Grant Museum of Zoology.
Q&A

A Biochemist’s View of Life’s Origin Reframes Cancer and Aging

By Viviane Callier
August 8, 2022
Read Later

The biochemist Nick Lane thinks life first evolved in hydrothermal vents where precursors of metabolism appeared before genetic information. His ideas could lead us to think differently about aging and cancer.

A blueprint-like rendering of the biomechanics of a bird wing.
biophysics

Geometric Analysis Reveals How Birds Mastered Flight

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
August 3, 2022
Read Later

Partnerships between engineers and biologists have begun to reveal how birds evolved their superb maneuverability.

Orange netlike structures surround the neurons in our brains.
Quantized Columns

Neuronal Scaffolding Plays Unexpected Role in Pain

By R. Douglas Fields
July 28, 2022
Read Later

Perineuronal nets, rigid structures that hold certain neurons in place, affect a surprising amount of brain activity, including some associated with chronic pain.

The Joy of Why

Why Do We Get Old, and Can Aging Be Reversed?

By Steven Strogatz
July 27, 2022
Read Later

Everybody gets older, but not everyone ages in the same way. In this episode, Steven Strogatz speaks with Judith Campisi and Dena Dubal, two biomedical researchers who study the aging process.

Flying butterflies overlaid with the cobwebby pattern of a logistic diagram.
mathematical biology

Hidden Chaos Found to Lurk in Ecosystems

By Joanna Thompson
July 27, 2022
Read Later

New research finds that chaos plays a bigger role in population dynamics than decades of ecological data seemed to suggest.

Sculpted, latticed structure of a grain of olive pollen.
plants

How the ‘Diamond of the Plant World’ Helped Land Plants Evolve

By James Dinneen
July 19, 2022
Read Later

Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land.

Video showing a ring of cells forming regularly spaced pits along its circumference.
developmental biology

Embryo Cells Set Patterns for Growth by Pushing and Pulling

By Monique Brouillette
July 12, 2022
Read Later

Patterns that guide the development of feathers and other features can be set by mechanical forces in the embryo, not just by gradients of chemicals.

Colorful opalized shell of a fossil ammonite.
geology

Life Helps Make Almost Half of Earth’s Minerals

By Joanna Thompson
July 1, 2022
Read Later

A new origins-based system for classifying minerals reveals the huge geochemical imprint that life has left on Earth. It could help us identify other worlds with life too.

Micrograph of a neuron showing aggregations of tau protein.
aging

Protein Blobs Linked to Alzheimer’s Affect Aging in All Cells

By Viviane Callier
June 28, 2022
Read Later

Protein buildups like those seen around neurons in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other brain diseases occur in all aging cells, a new study suggests. Learning their significance may reveal new strategies for treating age-related diseases.


Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • ...
  • 56
Next

Follow Quanta

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

RSS

Newsletter

Past Month

Most Read Articles

This Data is Current Loading...

This Data is Current Loading...

This Data is Current Loading...

The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters


  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2022