Two and a half years ago, when biologist Colin Donihue meandered through Turks and Caicos lassoing lizards with dental floss, he couldn’t have predicted how his project would eventually evolve.His team traveled to the islands to catch and measure lizards. “Lo and behold, three days after we left, the islands were hit by Hurricane Irma, and then Hurricane Maria a couple weeks later,” says , a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. His team returned to the island a few weeks later for a rare opportunity.Climate change is constantly testing the animal kingdom. Sea level...…Two and a half years ago, when biologist Colin Donihue meandered through Turks and Caicos lassoing lizards with dental floss, he couldn’t have predicted how his project would eventually evolve.His team traveled to the islands to catch and measure lizards. “Lo and behold, three days after we left, the islands were hit by Hurricane Irma, and then Hurricane Maria a couple weeks later,” says , a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. His team returned to the island a few weeks later for a rare opportunity.Climate change is constantly testing the animal kingdom. Sea level...WW…

Bombarded by the dry heat deep in the Atacama Desert, Jocelyne DiRuggiero’s team anchored a blue tarp to the roof of their truck for some much-needed shade. Those tarps proved futile though, getting ripped out by the afternoon's winds. It’s hard to imagine anything thriving in such a bone-dry stretch of this Chilean desert. And yet, , a biologist at Johns Hopkins University, came here looking for life — in the rocks. It’s no news that even the harshest places on Earth can support life. Even Atacama, a classic stand-in for Mars’ surface in , supports life. finding life there in 2006....…Bombarded by the dry heat deep in the Atacama Desert, Jocelyne DiRuggiero’s team anchored a blue tarp to the roof of their truck for some much-needed shade. Those tarps proved futile though, getting ripped out by the afternoon's winds. It’s hard to imagine anything thriving in such a bone-dry stretch of this Chilean desert. And yet, , a biologist at Johns Hopkins University, came here looking for life — in the rocks. It’s no news that even the harshest places on Earth can support life. Even Atacama, a classic stand-in for Mars’ surface in , supports life. finding life there in 2006....WW…

From the tip of a poofy tail, to the tip of a dog-like wet nose, ring-tailed lemurs can communicate in silence.The lemurs — an endangered primate native to Madagascar — are known for a particularly acute sense of smell compared to other primates. Scent glands on their genitals, shoulders, and wrists let them communicate specific messages for,, and – or stink-flirting. In a in the journal Current Biology, chemists from the University of Tokyo have pinpointed the fruity, floral chemicals key to lemur love connections. Some may rush to declare this as the first discovery of primate pheromones,...…From the tip of a poofy tail, to the tip of a dog-like wet nose, ring-tailed lemurs can communicate in silence.The lemurs — an endangered primate native to Madagascar — are known for a particularly acute sense of smell compared to other primates. Scent glands on their genitals, shoulders, and wrists let them communicate specific messages for,, and – or stink-flirting. In a in the journal Current Biology, chemists from the University of Tokyo have pinpointed the fruity, floral chemicals key to lemur love connections. Some may rush to declare this as the first discovery of primate pheromones,...WW…

frozen butt. So when François Haman attempts to recruit subjects to his studies on the health benefits of uncomfortable temperatures, he gets a lot of, well … cold shoulders. And he doesn’t blame them. “You're not going to attract too many people,” says Haman, who studies thermal physiology at the University of Ottawa, Canada.The human body is simply lousy at facing the cold. “I've done studies where people were exposed to 7 degrees Celsius [44.6 Fahrenheit], which is not even extreme. It's not that cold. Few people could sustain it for 24 hours,” he says. (Those subjects were even fully...…frozen butt. So when François Haman attempts to recruit subjects to his studies on the health benefits of uncomfortable temperatures, he gets a lot of, well … cold shoulders. And he doesn’t blame them. “You're not going to attract too many people,” says Haman, who studies thermal physiology at the University of Ottawa, Canada.The human body is simply lousy at facing the cold. “I've done studies where people were exposed to 7 degrees Celsius [44.6 Fahrenheit], which is not even extreme. It's not that cold. Few people could sustain it for 24 hours,” he says. (Those subjects were even fully...WW…

biological information flows just beneath the outermost layers of your skin, in which a hodgepodge of proteins squeeze past each other through the interstitial fluid surrounding your cells. This "interstitium" is an expansive and structured space, making it, to some, But its wealth of biomarkers for conditions like tuberculosis, heart attacks, and cancer has attracted growing attention from researchers looking to upend reliance on diagnostic tools they say are inefficient, invasive, and blood-centric."Blood is a tiny fraction of the fluid in our body," says Mark Prausnitz, a chemical...…biological information flows just beneath the outermost layers of your skin, in which a hodgepodge of proteins squeeze past each other through the interstitial fluid surrounding your cells. This "interstitium" is an expansive and structured space, making it, to some, But its wealth of biomarkers for conditions like tuberculosis, heart attacks, and cancer has attracted growing attention from researchers looking to upend reliance on diagnostic tools they say are inefficient, invasive, and blood-centric."Blood is a tiny fraction of the fluid in our body," says Mark Prausnitz, a chemical...WW…

of a University of Pennsylvania engineering building, Mohsen Azadi and his labmates huddled around a set of blinding LEDs set beneath an acrylic vacuum chamber. They stared at the lights, their cameras, and what they hoped would soon be some action from the two tiny plastic plates sitting inside the enclosure. “We didn't know what we were expecting to see,” says Azadi, a mechanical engineering PhD candidate. “But we hoped to see something.”Let’s put it this way: They wanted to see if those plates would levitate, lofted solely by the power of light. Light-induced flow, or photophoresis,...…of a University of Pennsylvania engineering building, Mohsen Azadi and his labmates huddled around a set of blinding LEDs set beneath an acrylic vacuum chamber. They stared at the lights, their cameras, and what they hoped would soon be some action from the two tiny plastic plates sitting inside the enclosure. “We didn't know what we were expecting to see,” says Azadi, a mechanical engineering PhD candidate. “But we hoped to see something.”Let’s put it this way: They wanted to see if those plates would levitate, lofted solely by the power of light. Light-induced flow, or photophoresis,...WW…

View more of a University of Pennsylvania engineering building, Mohsen Azadi and his labmates huddled around a set of blinding LEDs set beneath an acrylic vacuum chamber. They stared at the lights, their cameras, and what they hoped would soon be some action from the two tiny plastic plates sitting inside the enclosure. “We didn't know what we were expecting to see,” says Azadi, a mechanical engineering PhD candidate. “But we hoped to see something.”Let’s put it this way: They wanted to see if those plates would levitate, lofted solely by the power of light. Light-induced flow, or...…View more of a University of Pennsylvania engineering building, Mohsen Azadi and his labmates huddled around a set of blinding LEDs set beneath an acrylic vacuum chamber. They stared at the lights, their cameras, and what they hoped would soon be some action from the two tiny plastic plates sitting inside the enclosure. “We didn't know what we were expecting to see,” says Azadi, a mechanical engineering PhD candidate. “But we hoped to see something.”Let’s put it this way: They wanted to see if those plates would levitate, lofted solely by the power of light. Light-induced flow, or...WW…

of overcoming paralysis tends to start with the legs: Superman ; a soap opera character steps out of their wheelchair. “I think society has a tendency to focus solely on the walking aspect of disability,” says Ian Ruder, a magazine editor with the United Spinal Association, a nonprofit advocacy group for people with spinal cord injuries and disorders. But Ruder, who has used a wheelchair following an injury 23 years ago, says even restoring just a fraction of his hand function would improve his quality of life more than walking. “The difference between being able to pinch with my thumb and...…of overcoming paralysis tends to start with the legs: Superman ; a soap opera character steps out of their wheelchair. “I think society has a tendency to focus solely on the walking aspect of disability,” says Ian Ruder, a magazine editor with the United Spinal Association, a nonprofit advocacy group for people with spinal cord injuries and disorders. But Ruder, who has used a wheelchair following an injury 23 years ago, says even restoring just a fraction of his hand function would improve his quality of life more than walking. “The difference between being able to pinch with my thumb and...WW…

From the volcanoes of Costa Rica to the deepest reaches of the galaxy, discover the innovative scientific research and incredible personal stories of six #WomenInScience working at the forefront of their fields.Watch Science Friday’s latest film series at . This episode: Slime Minder.Audrey Dussutour is not shy about admitting that her career, and fame, is a bit of an accident. The French specialist in animal behavior didn’t set out to make discoveries about slime minds, or to write a hugely popular book (Le Blob) about the single-celled learners. “It was not my wish to work on slime molds...…From the volcanoes of Costa Rica to the deepest reaches of the galaxy, discover the innovative scientific research and incredible personal stories of six #WomenInScience working at the forefront of their fields.Watch Science Friday’s latest film series at . This episode: Slime Minder.Audrey Dussutour is not shy about admitting that her career, and fame, is a bit of an accident. The French specialist in animal behavior didn’t set out to make discoveries about slime minds, or to write a hugely popular book (Le Blob) about the single-celled learners. “It was not my wish to work on slime molds...WW…