All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús
- Life
This protist unfolds its ‘neck’ up to 30 times its body length to scout prey
With geometry’s help, 'Lacrymaria olor' can extend its long, necklike protrusion in less than 30 seconds.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, margarine’s ‘healthy’ reputation began to melt away
In the 1970s, scientists began to suspect that margarine was bad for heart health. A key component, artificial trans fat, was a major factor.
- Health & Medicine
A protein found in sweat may protect people from Lyme disease
The protein stopped Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterium that is transmitted by ticks, from growing in dishes or infecting mice.
- Health & Medicine
Bird flu has infected a person after spreading to cows. Here’s what to know
H5N1 has wreaked havoc on birds around the globe and occasionally made the jump to mammals, including cows. The risk to people remains low.
- Animals
See 3-D models of animal anatomy from openVertebrate’s public collection
Over six years, researchers took CT scans of over 13,000 vertebrates to make museum collections more easily accessible to researchers and the public.
- Genetics
A genetic parasite may explain why humans and other apes lack tails
Around 25 million years ago, a stretch of DNA inserted itself into an ancestral ape’s genome, an event that might have taken our tails away.
- Animals
The Brazilian flea toad may be the world’s smallest vertebrate
Brazilian flea toads are neither a flea nor a toad, but they are almost flea-sized. The frogs are small enough to fit on a pinkie fingernail.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, computers helped speed up drug discovery
In 1974, a computer program helped researchers search for promising cancer drugs. Today, AI is helping speed up drug discovery.
- Health & Medicine
Taking a weight-loss drug reduced a craving for opioids
Early results from 20 people with opioid use disorder raise hopes that popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy can tackle opioid addiction, too.
- Plants
Here’s why blueberries are blue
Nanostructures in a blueberry’s waxy coating make it look blue, despite having dark red pigments — and no blue ones — in its skin, a new study reports.
- Animals
Explore the expected life spans of different dog breeds
An analysis of dogs in the United Kingdom found that breeds like miniature dachshunds have the longest life spans while bulldogs have the shortest.
- Life
Insects flocking to artificial lights may not know which way is up
Insects may use light to figure out where the ground is. Artificial lights send them veering off course, data from high-speed infrared cameras suggests.
