Naked mole rats and ant colonies have more in common than you think
They both demonstrate something called 'swarm intelligence'
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This is how the light from your phone breaks your internal clock
It's not just sleep: circadian rhythms influence your metabolism, circulation and psychology, too
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Molecular Biology
Princeton University
New science stories every week
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Naked mole rats and ant colonies have more in common than you think
They both demonstrate something called 'swarm intelligence'
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This is how the light from your phone breaks your internal clock
It's not just sleep: circadian rhythms influence your metabolism, circulation and psychology, too
Molecular Biology
Princeton University
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Our buildings could help reverse global warming, instead of being a major cause
Concrete isn't going away anytime soon, but we can engineer it to store more carbon
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Entomology
University of California Riverside
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That steak is a stretchy biological machine
Sure, meat is made of animal muscles. But what even are muscles?
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Synthetic Biology
ETH Zurich
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Meet Grete Hermann, the philosopher of quantum physics
She changed how we thought about truth not only in science, but in politics and ethics, too
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These unregulated, potentially dangerous chemicals are probably already in your bloodstream
Researchers have known that there are unsafe compounds in our water for decades, but the government is just starting to catch up
Marine Science
University of Rhode Island
1 peer comment -
From muscle to meal, this is the journey meat takes
There's complex chemistry happening every time you throw burgers on the grill
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Synthetic Biology
ETH Zurich
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Why academia needs its #MeToo moment
Academia reports the second-highest rates of work-related sexual harassment, only less than the military
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We can detect and treat it better than ever, but preventing cancer is still far out of reach
The search for clues has led researchers to study animals who don't develop cancer at all
Cancer Biology
The Scripps Research Institute
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Here's everything you need to know to grow your own hamburgers
Cellular agriculture techniques are young but rapidly advancing
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Tissue Engineering
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory
Theme
Climate change is no longer an open question—for researchers today, it's a baseline assumption. How these changes will impact ecosystems, public health, and our future are now the questions we need to ask.
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After Hurricane Florence, North Carolina's water quality will go down the toilet
Floodwaters contaminated with coal ash, human sewage, and animal waste throw the entire watershed out of balance
Marine Science
University of Rhode Island
1 peer comment -
When evolution's path leads to a dead end
The fossil record shows that nature doesn't always make the right choices
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Geology
Government of Greenland
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Rising seas are threatening historical sites around the world
As climate change encroaches, our heritage is drowning
Archaeology
New York University
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Tracking the history – and future – of the world's largest penguin breeding colony
Climate change is upending migration patterns that predate Cleopatra
Environmental Physiology
McMaster University
1 peer comment -
Tree-murdering fungi and insects increasingly contribute to climate change
New research suggests carbon dioxide released from dying forests equals emissions from 11 million cars
Ecology and Biogeochemistry
Virginia Commonwealth University
1 peer comment -
How atmospheric dust might help cool the planet
New research suggests an old idea of geoengineering has more merit than long suspected
Oceanography
University of Washington
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'Being Ecological' is a book with admirable aims and a tangled execution
Prioritizing data over action can be counterproductive – but so is a muddled message
Ecology
Wake Forest University
Our buildings could help reverse global warming, instead of being a major cause
Concrete isn't going away anytime soon, but we can engineer it to store more carbon
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Entomology
University of California Riverside
First-person musings from the frontlines of STEM research
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How I used my research skills to help diagnose myself
It's hard to leave the science at the lab bench
Microbiology and Immunology
University of Louisville
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As a scientist, sometimes I understand too much about my brother's cystic fibrosis
My knowledge of his disease can be helpful, but also supremely frustrating
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Neurobiology
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Why I'm quitting GMO research
Constantly confronting people who think my research will harm them is profoundly distressing
Genomics
University of Alberta
3 peer comments
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These women changed science for the better
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Meet Grete Hermann, the philosopher of quantum physics
She changed how we thought about truth not only in science, but in politics and ethics, too
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Meet Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer
A "prophet of the computer age," she saw the potential for computers outside of pure mathematics
Neuroscience
McGill University
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Meet Hypatia, the ancient mathematician who helped preserve seminal texts
Her dramatic death often overshadows her epic life, but it shouldn't
Biochemistry
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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There was so much more to Rachel Carson beyond 'Silent Spring'
The trained zoologist and a bureaucrat pushed for environmental safety her whole life
Ecology
Wake Forest University
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Meet Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who changed the way we think about the history of life on Earth
The ichthyosaur she found helped prove extinction
Botany
University of Florida
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Meet Mary Golda Ross, one of the first Native Americans in engineering
Much of her Cold War work on missiles is still classified today
Ecology
Wake Forest University
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Meet Barbara McClintock, who used corn to decipher 'jumping genes'
Through meticulous crossbreeding, she showed that DNA is far more complicated than scientists originally thought
Neuroscience
LA Biomed
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Meet Ynes Mexia, late-blooming botanist whose adventures rivaled Darwin's
Eighty years after her death, scientists are still processing the plants she collected
Marine Geology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Meet Helen Rodríguez-Trías, pediatrician-turned-healthcare activist
She pushed to end sterilization, legalize abortion, and give poor people access to quality care
Psychology and Nutrition
University of South Australia
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Meet Jane Marcet, whose books made science accessible
She recreated her own informal learning process in print, to much success
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Chemical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
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Three times Louise Slaughter used her microbiology training in Congress
The lawmaker, the only microbiologist in Congress, pushed for public health reform
Microbiology
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Four facts about Jane Goodall, primatologist, anthropologist, and activist
Her unorthodox research showed us that chimpanzees are far more human than we thought
Environmental Physiology
McMaster University
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Meet Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist who first noticed pulsars
Through sheer tenacity she has forged a career in a male-dominated field
Neuroscience
LA Biomed
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Meet Katherine Johnson, the computer who helped send men to the moon
John Glenn wouldn't blast off until she double-checked the IBM's calculations
Ecology
Wake Forest University
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Five facts about Rita Levi-Montalcini, who figured out how neurons grow
She bested anti-Semitism and sexism to have a Nobel-winning career
Neuroscience
McGill University
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5 facts about Frances Hamerstrom, wildlife biologist, hunter, and savior of the prairie chicken
As a kid, she dissected blue jays and built a garden whose path was lined with poison ivy
Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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Meet Vera Rubin, the stargazer who predicted dark matter
From childhood, she preferred 'to stay up and watch the stars than go to sleep'
Environmental Physiology
McMaster University
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Meet Mamie Phipps Clark, the social psychologist who helped outlaw segregated schools
She became the first black woman to earn a PhD in psychology from Columbia University
Neuroscience
McGill University
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Six facts about Gertrude Elion, a legend in drug discovery
She experienced many obstacles, but her perseverance and passion always won
Cell Biology
Carnegie Mellon University
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Four facts about Marie Tharp, the woman whose art mapped the bottom of the sea
She discovered the Earth's 'backbone' even though men wouldn't let her on a ship for 17 years
Ecology
Wake Forest University
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Remembering Ursula K. Le Guin, an inspiration to scientists
Le Guin was a testament to how fiction reveals truth, empathy, and the beauty of knowledge
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Meet the barrier-breaking physicist hunting gravity with lasers
Nergis Mavalvala explores gravitational waves and quantum physics
Neuroscience
Northeastern University
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5 facts about Marie Curie, chemist, physicist, and Nobel legend
She was the first woman to win one – much less two – Nobel Prizes
Neuroscience
McGill University
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The prolific life of Wang Zhenyi, autodidact, astronomer, and poet
Progressive in science and art, she disregarded sexist norms of Qing-dynasty China
Genomics
University of Alberta
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5 facts about Hedy Lamarr, star, inventor, wartime code maker
“Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid”
Computational Neuroscience
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5 facts about Marjorie Lee Browne, African American math prodigy and pioneer
Breaking through barriers of race and gender, she pursued the beauty of pure math
Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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5 facts about Rosalind Franklin, DNA pioneer
She helped discover DNA, got snubbed by her contemporaries, and kept right on going
Evolutionary Biology
University of Massachusetts Medical School
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5 facts about Jean Bartik, expert programmer of the world's first computer
"The ENIAC was a son of a b**** to program"
Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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Five facts about Mae Jemison, doctor, dancer, and the first woman of color in space
You know she went to space. But do you know which TV show inspired her to go?
Molecular Pharmacology
University of Pittsburgh
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Five facts about Mary Putnam Jacobi, medical pioneer and suffragette
She was a true renaissance woman
Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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Five facts about Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space
Two decades before Sally Ride, a Soviet woman rose from obscurity to become the first female cosmonaut
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Five facts about Linda Buck, olfactory pioneer
The Nobel Prize-winning biologist revolutionized how we think about our noses
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Meet the astronomer who changed how we see the stars
Williamina Fleming pioneered a system for classifying stars and discovered the Horsehead Nebula
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Maryam Mirzakhani died Friday. Her legacy lives on
The first woman to win a Fields Medal was only 40, but she revolutionized mathematics
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Meet the "First Lady of Physics," "Queen of Nuclear Research," and destroyer of natural laws
Chien-Shiung Wu conducted some of the most elegant particle physics experiments of her time
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Meet the chemist who engineered the first effective treatment of leprosy
Alice Augusta Ball’s died at the age of 24. Ninety years later, we finally started recognizing her contributions.
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4 incredible fossils found by paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey
Meet the British anthropologist who completely changed our understanding of the hominid ancestral tree
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Meet the woman who changed how we treat cancer
Jane Cooke Wright saved millions by making chemotherapy more effective
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Meet the physicist who helped discover three fundamental particles
Most scientists spend their careers hoping for a single big discovery. Sau Lan Wu has had three and is still searching for more.
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Meet the first black woman to earn a PhD in chemistry
Marie Maynard Daly worked at a time when our understanding of DNA was changing in big ways
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Meet the botanist who made sugarcane sweeter and snuck a squirrel into England
Janaki Ammal lived simply. Her life was anything but.
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3 incredible stories from the life of nanoscience pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus
The “Queen of Carbon” didn’t earn her title by playing by the rules
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.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=1600&q=70&w=2400 "Cassava flowers")
Simon Bull
Your bubble tea could hold the key to helping millions of farmers
Cassava, an African staple food crop, could be poised to become a major source of industrial starch thanks to CRISPR
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Genomics
University of Alberta
Matteo Farinella