Category Archives: News & Archives

Bioreactor device helps frogs regenerate their legs

A team of scientists designed a device that can induce partial hindlimb regeneration in adult aquatic African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) by "kick-starting" tissue repair at the amputation site. Their findings, appearing November 6 in the journal Cell Reports, introduce a new model for testing "electroceuticals," or cell-stimulating therapies. "At best, adult frogs normally grow back…

Ambitious Project to Sequence Genomes of 1.5 Million Species Kicks Off

Last week, a global consortium of scientists officially launched the Earth BioGenome Project. As Kate Kelland at Reuters reports, the backers are calling the extensive initiative the next “moonshot for biology.” Projected to cost $4.7 billion, it aims to sequence the DNA of the 1.5 million known species of eukaryotic, or complex species of life on Earth. Having…

Tiny footprints, big discovery: Reptile tracks oldest ever found in Grand Canyon

A geology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has discovered that a set of 28 footprints left behind by a reptile-like creature 310 million years ago, are the oldest ever to be found in Grand Canyon National Park. The fossil trackway covers a fallen boulder that now rests along the Bright Angel Trail…

High exposure to radio frequency radiation associated with cancer in male rats

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) concluded there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR) like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones developed cancerous heart tumors, according to final reports released today. There was also some evidence of tumors in the brain and adrenal gland of…

Few things can delight an adult more easily than the uninhibited, effervescent laughter of a baby. Yet baby laughter, a new study shows, differs from adult laughter in a key way: Babies laugh as they both exhale and inhale, in a manner that is remarkably similar to nonhuman primates. The research will be described by…

Burmese python invasion in Florida a hidden legacy of Hurricane Andrew

Watch the CBSN Originals documentary, "Burmese Python Invasion: Fighting Invasive Species," in the video player above. The full hour special premieres on CBSN Sunday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET. It's been 26 years since Hurricane Andrew became the costliest storm in Florida's history, but today residents of the Sunshine State are…

New crocodile species found hiding in plain sight

It’s not every day that you find a new crocodile species. For the first time in more than 80 years, researchers have fully described and named a new species—the Central African slender-snouted crocodile—which is found in a broad swathe of the continent from Cameroon to Tanzania. This species has been dubbed Mecistops leptorhynchus, and characterized…

Bird-like lungs may have helped dinosaurs rule the world

Many dinosaurs were swift and active animals, which is puzzling given that Earth’s atmosphere contained less oxygen than it does today when dinosaurs ruled. They may have thrived in the challenging conditions due to their efficient bird-like lungs, according to a new study. “Birds and mammals are highly active and evolved a way of living…

New insight into the evolution of the nervous system

Pioneering research has given a fascinating fresh insight into how animal nervous systems evolved from simple structures to become the complex network transmitting signals between different parts of the body. The new study used simple multicellular organisms called Placozoa to reveal the beginnings of the nervous systems found in more complex animals. The international research…

Researchers find genomic evidence of rapid adaptation of invasive Burmese pythons in Florida

Florida has become a haven for invasive species in the United States, but perhaps the most well-known of the State's alien residents is the Burmese python. These giant snakes, native to Southeast Asia, have become well-established over the past few decades and even flourish in their new environment. "In Burmese pythons, we observed the rapid…