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The glycome’s emerging role in health and disease
In the biological drama that is a cell’s life, you might think of DNA as the playwright, RNA as the director and proteins as the stars of the show. But life, and living things, are rarely so simple. It turns out that a less understood set of players — a crew of sugar structures known
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How new fishing tech can reduce bycatch of turtles and other creatures
Our oceans are full of sophisticated, perfect traps: Nets, hooks, fishing lines. Designed to capture animals destined for our dinner tables, they often catch other wildlife too. This accidental harvest is known as bycatch, and every year it causes the death of millions of marine animals, including whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and seabirds. Nets and
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The many roles of non-coding RNAs in the cell
When scientists first cracked the genetic code, they expected a simple story: DNA makes RNA, and that RNA, known as messenger RNA, makes proteins. Proteins would do all the important work — building tissues, fighting infections, digesting food. But when the DNA of our genome was finally sequenced, researchers encountered a head-scratcher: The 20,000-plus genes
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Can we fight climate change by storing CO2 in the ocean?
Close to the eastern tip of Canada, in Nova Scotia’s picturesque Halifax harbor, a local firm has joined the fight against climate change. There, Planetary Technologies has figured out how to turn the cooling water of a power plant into a tool against global warming, by enhancing its capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the
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The troubling rise of family estrangement
Adult children vs. parents, siblings vs. siblings — calling quits on one’s kin seems increasingly common. In a 2025 YouGov poll of 4,395 US adults, nearly 4 in 10 respondents said they “no longer have a relationship with” one or more immediate family members. An episode of the Oprah Podcast on the “culture of estrangement”
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Science of tea’s compounds and flavors affected by processing
How about a cuppa? Tea is the world’s most popular drink, except for plain old water. Whether we’re talking matcha, Earl Grey or oolong, it’s all made from the leaves of one species of plant, Camellia sinensis. (Any other tea-like brew is technically a tisane or herbal tea.) That one tea plant yields teas in
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The crazy nests built by leaf-cutter ants
The first time Marcela Cosarinsky saw a nest of Atta vollenweideri leaf-cutter ants, it was the late 1990s and she was in an Argentinian grassland studying termites. Local children showed her a mound of earth nearly broad enough to park a Jeep on, crowned with chimney-like tubes. She was shocked that insects could build something
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What Happens When Light Goes Boom? Part 4: What Brad Bradington Is Good For
(This is the final part of a series on Cherenkov radiation — the “light boom.” Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 first.) So we know what Cherenkov radiation is. We know how it works. We know that Pavel Cherenkov spent three years poking a glowing bottle of water before anyone believed him. Now:
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“Immature” Lunar Soil Could Be Suitable for Roadways on the Moon
Between the Artemis Program, the ESA’s Moon Village, and the Sino-Russian International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the next step in space exploration is clear: We’re going back to the Moon, and this time, to stay! This plan requires significant investment, research, development, and strategies adapted to lunar conditions. In particular, mission planners are concerned about
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What Happens When Light Goes Boom? Part 3: Brad Bradington Sprints
(This is Part 3 of a series on Cherenkov radiation — the “light boom.” Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.) We have our material — the crowd at the red carpet. We have our star particle — Brad Bradington. We have our paparazzi. Let’s watch what happens. Brad steps out of his limo and
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