research

The plate on the left contains about equal numbers of colonies of two different bacteria. After the bacteria compete and evolve, the lighter ones have taken the lead in the plate on the right.

Bacterial Competition In Lab Shows Evolution Never Stops

10:49am November 15, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Day after day, workers at Michigan State University care for and feed colonies of evolving bacteria. The original microbes have produced more than 50,000 generations in the 25 years since the experiment began. Despite predictions the bacteria might someday reach a point where they would evolve no more, the results show they keep changing.

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Bucheli is a forensic entomologist at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and a staff researcher at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility, which conducts research on human bodies that have been donated to science. "I'm deepl

Could Detectives Use Microbes To Solve Murders?

1:30pm October 31, 2013

by Rob Stein

Long after we die, many of the microscopic creatures living in and on us continue to thrive. In field experiments, forensic scientists are tracking changes in communities of microbes on human remains that could one day serve as clues.

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Bob Adams is a lab animal veterinarian at Johns Hopkins University.

Shutdown Imperils Costly Lab Mice, Years Of Research

8:33pm October 10, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

A lack of funding to labs is likely to mean an early death for thousands of mice used in scientific and medical research. The loss of specialty mice, many of which have genes that can cause them to develop versions of human diseases, is especially troubling to scientists — and expensive.

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The olinguito (right) was discovered while a researcher was sifting through specimens at The Field Museum in Chicago. On the left is a North American raccoon.

Science

Meet The Olinguito, The Newest Member Of The Raccoon Family

5:44pm August 19, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

This cousin of the raccoon is the first new carnivore discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years. Native to the Andes Mountains of Colombia and Ecuador where it's still living, the olinguito was actually first identified in a Field Museum specimen storage room in Chicago.

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Could the images common in accounts of near-death experiences be explained by a rush of electrical activity in the brain?

Brains Of Dying Rats Yield Clues About Near-Death Experiences

7:57am August 13, 2013

by Rob Stein

Researchers discovered what appears to be a momentary increase in electrical activity in the brain associated with consciousness. As the brain struggles to survive, it also struggles to make sense of many neurons firing in the survival attempt.

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"Liver buds" grow in petri dishes. The rudimentary organs are about 5 mm wide, or half the height of a classic Lego block.

Scientists Grow A Simple, Human Liver In A Petri Dish

9:48am July 04, 2013

The tiny organs created from stem cells aren't complete, but they act like regular livers when transplanted into mice, Japanese scientists say. Still, it will be years before the synthetic organs could help people with liver problems, even if further research all works out as hoped.

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Chimpanzee Toni celebrated his 50th birthday at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich on Nov. 22, 2011.

Science

Rule Would List All Chimps As Endangered, Even Lab Animals

9:45am June 18, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Though the regulation proposed by the Fish and Wildlife Service would make it more difficult to use chimpanzees for research purposes, that may not be a problem, some scientists say. Scientific advances show the animals are less medically useful than previously thought.

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Arts

MESDA: Winston-Salem's Hidden Treasure

5:05pm May 28, 2013

Winston-Salem is home to a treasure that's perhaps more well-known to some constituencies outside the area than it is to those who live in the Triad.

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This model of a molar shows color-coded barium banding patterns that reveal weaning age.

Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding

12:54pm May 24, 2013

by Adam Cole

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old. Researchers found a way to test ancient teeth for clues about when humans cut nursing short.

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Fungi (cyan) surround a human hair within the skin. A study in the journal Nature shows the population of fungi on human skin is more diverse that previously thought.

Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin

11:20am May 24, 2013

by Rob Stein

While studying microorganisms on humans is not new, tracking fungi is. In a census of sorts, scientists checked the skin of healthy volunteers. They found an expansive ecosystem of silent inhabitants.

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