All posts tagged "Biology"

During a single ejaculation, millions of sperm embark on their arduous journey to the egg. On the way, numerous challenges await. These include an acidic environment in the vagina, the cervix’s mucus which can act as a barrier or filter, the many wrong turns within the uterus, and the final challenge of penetrating the egg itself which is encased in a protective layer called the zona pellucida. Only a few hundred lucky sperm actually make it close to the egg. But, in the end, there is only one winner. Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now made a breakthrough in understand......

When marine scientist Ian Enochs jumped into the water at Cheeca Rocks, a small reef in the Florida Keys known for vibrantly colorful corals, what he saw shook him to the core. “Literally everything was white,” said Enochs, a research ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami. “It does not look normal at all, it’s just like a different reef.” It was July, still early in what would become the hottest summer on record in South Florida, and Enochs waswitnessing a mass event bleaching — a telltale trouble sign that corals are struggling in abnormally hot ocean wat......

MIAMI — The late scientist Stephen Hawking made a name for himself through his exploration of the physics of black holes, but it is his connection to the holder of one of the world’s most notorious black books — the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — that has him in the news again. A just-unsealed 2015 email from Epstein to his former girlfriend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, suggests Hawking was involved in the culture of sex abuse that thrived on Epstein’s private island. The email was included in discovery in connection with a slander lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Eps......

PHILADELPHIA -- Any changes in your medications or allergies? Check. New health issues since your last visit? Check. And would you like to contribute a blood and DNA sample for a massive research project? That last question is now part of the electronic check-in process for patients at Penn Medicine clinics and hospitals, and it already is yielding promising clues in the study of disease. More than 260,000 people have signed up to participate in the project, called Penn Medicine BioBank, agreeing to have their samples stored in secure freezers set to negative 80 degrees Celsius. By cross-refer......

NEW YORK — DNA from the wife of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was found on the victims’ bodies, according to multiple reports. Asa Ellerup, 59, has not been considered a suspect in the case, as prosecutors said she was out of town when the victims were killed. However, investigators matched her DNA to samples collected from the victims’ bodies, sources told Newsday and ABC News. Cops took a cheek swab from Ellerup on July 13, the same day Heuermann was arrested. Police also used DNA evidence to tie Heuermann to the murders, matching DNA from his cheek and his discarded pizz......

A “squeaker”-like sound pierced the air of a mountain forest in Rwanda. The call came from a “miniature” creature sitting on the forest floor. Scientists found the source of the sound — and discovered a new species. J. Maximilian Dehling ventured into the Nyungwe Forest on several trips between 2010 and 2018, he wrote in a study published Oct. 23 in the journal Diversity. During these surveys, a “very small” frog caught his attention. He found six of these “miniature” frogs and, taking a closer look, discovered a new species: Arthroleptis nyungwensis, or the Nyungwe squeaker frog. The Nyungwe ......