A Braarudosphaera bigelowii cell magnified 1,000-fold.Credit: Tyler Coale Researchers have discovered a type of organelle, a fundamental cellular structure, that can turn nitrogen gas into a form that is useful for cell growth. The discovery of the structure, called a nitroplast, in algae could bolster efforts to genetically engineer plants to convert, or ‘fix’, their … Read more
Every year for six years, Laureen Wamaitha hoped that her fields in Kenya would flourish. Every year, she’d see drought wither the crops and then floods wash them away. The cycle of optimism and loss left her constantly anxious, and she blamed climate change. “You get to a situation where you have panic attacks because … Read more
Heber Springs, Arkansas “It makes your heart want to skip a beat — and you cannot really describe it to someone who hasn’t experienced it in person,” said Lynnice Carter on Monday, after watching the total solar eclipse that crossed North America. Carter, a retired educator from Blue Springs, Mississippi, travelled about 230 miles (370 … Read more
A dairy worker in Texas has become infected with a strain of avian influenza similar to that infecting dairy cattle in several US states.Credit: Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Researchers are closely monitoring the spread of a worrisome strain of avian influenza to cattle — and one person — at farms in six US states. These infections represent … Read more
Kigali, Rwanda The church at Ntarama, a 45-minute drive south of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, is a red-brick building about 20 metres long by 5 metres wide. Inside are features seen in Catholic churches around the world: pews for congregation members, an altar, stained-glass windows and a cross adorning the entrance. Then there are the scars … Read more
Researchers in North America are gearing up for their chance to observe the Sun’s corona — its wispy outer atmosphere — like never before. Normally hidden to the naked eye by the Sun’s glare, the corona will be visible to millions from Sinaloa, Mexico, to Newfoundland, Canada, when the Moon blocks the solar disk during … Read more
A fertility treatment that has been used for 45 years is once again available in Alabama. In vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures in the state were halted after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos created using the technique have the same rights as children. A new state law protecting clinics from legal fallout … Read more
To cope with the demand for international bandwidth almost doubling every two years, Japanese corporations NEC and NTT have successfully trialed a revolutionary submarine cable technology set to drastically enhance internet speeds under the sea. The transoceanic-class experiment transmitted hundreds of terabits across a staggering 7,280km, a feat made possible through a sophisticated algorithm. NEC … Read more
Reddit’s many ‘subreddit’ communities offer channels for discussing science and are of interest to social-media scholars.Credit: Amy Lombard/New York Times/Redux/eyevine It has been almost 18 months since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now known as X. Since the tech mogul took ownership, in October 2022, the number of daily active users of the platform’s mobile app … Read more
This six-legged animal isn’t an insect: it’s a mouse with two extra limbs where its genitals should be. Research on this genetically engineered rodent, which was published on 20 March in Nature Communications1, has revealed a way in which changes in DNA’s 3D structure can affect how embryos develop. Developmental biologist Moisés Mallo, at the … Read more