“Zombie shrimp”: How parasites hack host genes to do their bidding

The animal kingdom is home to all kinds of stories – adventures, romance, tragedy, and as it turns out, even horror stories. Scientists at Brown University have now uncovered a creepy new zombie story involving worms that propagate by hack their shrimp… Continue reading “Zombie shrimp”: How parasites hack host genes to do their bidding

46,000-year-old worms revived from permafrost belong to new species

In what sounds like the opening scenes of a disaster movie, scientists recently revived worms frozen in the permafrost since the Ice Age. Now, these worms have been attributed to a new species, and seem to have passed down their incredible hibernation … Continue reading 46,000-year-old worms revived from permafrost belong to new species

Synthetic lifeform regains lost “fitness” in evolution experiment

How small a canvas can evolution work on? Scientists have experimented with a synthetic lifeform designed to have the simplest possible genome, and found that given the chance it can evolve lost fitness back, showing that indeed, “life finds a way.”Con… Continue reading Synthetic lifeform regains lost “fitness” in evolution experiment

NASA detects life’s rarest building block in water ice of Saturn’s moon

A new discovery has boosted the chances of life soon being found on another world. NASA has announced the detection of phosphorus, the rarest element that’s essential to life, in the oceans of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, Sc… Continue reading NASA detects life’s rarest building block in water ice of Saturn’s moon

Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth between 800 million and 1.6 billion years ago. Fossilized fat compounds were identified in rocks all over the world, likely produced by our ancie… Continue reading Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth between 800 million and 1.6 billion years ago. Fossilized fat compounds were identified in rocks all over the world, likely produced by our ancie… Continue reading Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Evolution experiment yields yeast 20,000x bigger and 10,000x tougher

Scientists are conducting a long-term experiment on evolution in the lab, to investigate how single-celled organisms could evolve into multicellular lifeforms. After thousands of generations, their yeast grew 20,000 times bigger and 10,000 times toughe… Continue reading Evolution experiment yields yeast 20,000x bigger and 10,000x tougher

James Webb may have detected water vapor in rocky planet’s atmosphere

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected water vapor near a planet in another system, which could mark the first direct detection of a rocky exoplanet’s atmosphere. But there’s a big if hanging over the find.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, S… Continue reading James Webb may have detected water vapor in rocky planet’s atmosphere

Nickelback could have kickstarted life on Earth, says new study

One of the most profound mysteries facing science is how exactly life arose from non-living matter. Now, scientists have pinpointed a particular peptide that potentially kickstarted life – and it could all be nickelback’s fault.Continue ReadingCategory… Continue reading Nickelback could have kickstarted life on Earth, says new study