Artificial stomach reveals fluid dynamics of food digestion
In efforts to fight obesity and enhance drug absorption, scientists have extensively studied how gastric juices in the stomach break down ingested food and other substances. However, less is known...
View ArticleScientists identify live immune cells in a coral and sea anemone for the...
A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Ben Gurion University of the Negev has identified specialized immune cells in...
View ArticleTo colonize different environments, bacteria precisely tune their nanomotors
In their roughly 3.5 billion years on Earth, bacteria have fine-tuned the art of colonizing all kinds of habitats, from the inner lining of digestive tracts to the blistering hot waters of geysers. But...
View ArticleSimulation illustrates how COVID-19 social distancing creates pedestrian...
Along with the use of face masks, social distancing in public remains one of the most practiced front-line defenses against the spread of COVID-19. However, flows of pedestrians, including those...
View ArticleSwapping spit helps ants share metabolic labour
Ant colonies use fluids passed mouth-to-mouth to create a colony-wide metabolism, shows a study published in eLife.
View ArticleRethinking the wild world of species diversity in microbes
University of Maryland biologists developed the first mathematical simulations of bacterial communities that incorporate the complex interactions and rapid evolution among bacteria and reflect the...
View ArticleThe art of getting DNA out of decades-old pickled snakes
Two levels underground, Chicago's Field Museum has a secret bunker. The sub-basement Collections Resource Center houses millions of biological specimens for scientists around the world to use in their...
View ArticleFamine and disease drove the evolution of lactose tolerance in Europe
Prehistoric people in Europe were consuming milk thousands of years before humans evolved the genetic trait allowing us to digest the milk sugar lactose as adults, finds a new study. The research,...
View ArticleStudy could lead to new treatments for swallowing disorders
The average human swallows 500 to 700 times a day. Imagine if each of those swallows were a struggle.
View ArticleUnraveling secrets of microplastics released by tires
In Switzerland, tire and road wear particles are one of the biggest sources of microplastics released into the environment, yet the chemical compounds contained in those particles—and their...
View ArticleBasic 'toolkit' for organ development is illuminated by sea star
One of the most basic and crucial embryonic processes to unfold in virtually every living organism is the formation of hollow, tubular structures of various kinds. These tubes may form blood vessels or...
View ArticleFlowing fluids shape the social life of gut microbes
A groundbreaking study reveals that the flow of fluids influences the spatial organization of bacterial communities that inhabit our intestines, revealing an overlooked factor potentially mediating our...
View ArticleResearchers' sweeping discovery shows how kidney cells self-renew
University of Texas at Dallas scientists have discovered a previously unknown "housekeeping" process in kidney cells that ejects unwanted content, resulting in cells that rejuvenate themselves and...
View ArticleGut fungi: Unexpected source of novel chemicals
Anaerobic fungi, which die in the presence of oxygen, dwell in herbivore guts and help them digest their last leafy meal. In their evolutionary history, these fungi branched off early from aerobic...
View ArticleImaging advance poised to provide new insights into reproduction and infertility
Researchers have developed a new optical coherence tomography (OCT) approach that can directly image coordination of tiny hair-like structures known as motile cilia in their natural environment. The...
View ArticleScientists use fiber optic cable to study Arctic seafloor permafrost
The Arctic is remote, with often harsh conditions, and its climate is changing rapidly—warming four times faster than the rest of the Earth. This makes studying the Arctic climate both challenging and...
View ArticleTiny water-walking bugs provide scientists with insights on how microplastics...
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that can cause big problems when they enter the water supply. One way my fluid dynamics lab explores microplastic movement is by studying how tiny water-walking...
View ArticleMicrofluidic environments alter microbe behaviors, opening potential for...
Microbes are social beings. Much like humans, they communicate and cooperate with each other to solve problems bigger than themselves. In a microbial community, there will even be free riders and...
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