At first glance, bat sea stars, the nubbly, orange, many-footed creatures often found on the seafloor, seem about as far from humans as one can get. Appearances can be deceiving, however. Scientists have found evidence showing human and sea star ovaries share similar genetics, cell types and signaling processes, despite their ancient evolutionary split. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Sight-threatening antibiotic-resistant eye infections are becoming a significant threat to vision in dogs, cats and horses, according to a new comprehensive review published in Veterinary Ophthalmology by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study examines global trends in antimicrobial resistance in animal eye infections and warns that multidrug-resistant bacteria are becoming more common in referral veterinary settings. The review also highlights a critical challenge for veterinarians: Standard laboratory tests may not always predict how well topical eye treatments will work in practice.
Many bat species emit echolocation calls and use the returning echoes to find their way, detect the presence of fluttering insects, and locate and catch them. A new study investigated this behavior in greater horseshoe bats foraging in the wild. An international team, including researchers from the University of Tübingen, "flew" with bats via GPS recording tags with microphones.
A University of Houston engineering professor is helping cities, utilities and transportation agencies prepare for and recover from natural disasters. All these organizations face the same challenge: They know the next hurricane, flood, wildfire or other major disruption will occur, but they do not have enough resources to strengthen every vulnerable piece of infrastructure.
In 1938 and 1944, two major hurricanes struck Long Island, and after the initial winds subsided, the surges came back unexpectedly hours later, leading observers to wonder whether this was a tsunami. In a study appearing in Continental Shelf Research, scientists at Stevens Institute of Technology explain the phenomenon and warn that it could happen again.
The past five years have not been easy for the people of the Pacific. COVID restrictions disrupted tourism and upended supply chains, while global fuel shocks raised prices and hit island economies hard.
Bumblebees are only an inch long, but they help power the global food system. Roughly one-third of the food we grow depends on pollinators like bees—and those bees are regularly decimated by pesticides.
Even in darkness, many animals retain a sense of orientation because their nervous system sustains a memory of heading encoded by the activity of head-direction (HD) cells. Animals continuously update this internal compass by temporally integrating angular head velocity relayed by vestibular, optic flow and motor efference signals. External cues, such as visual landmarks, are used to counteract cumulative integration errors.
Multicellular life depends on remarkable acts of cooperation. Every cell in the human body must sense what is happening around it, interpret signals from its neighbors and respond in ways that support the larger tissue. These chemical, physical and electrical messages help determine when cells grow, repair damage, fight infection or quiet down after a threat has passed—and tissue health depends on how well those parts come together.
In a primary school classroom, a 9-year-old reads aloud to the person next to them. When they stumble over a word, their partner encourages them to try again. Together, they discuss what might happen next. But the child isn't reading to an adult—a teaching assistant or volunteer. Instead, they are reading to a peer in their class. Later, they'll switch jobs and help their partner out as they read.
