Static No. 12 (seek stillness in movement), 2009–10.
©Daniel Crooks. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery
A new exhibition at MONA, curated by scientists, explores the biological and evolutionary origins of art. The show is spectacular - but it offers an overwhelmingly male perspective.
Too good to be true? Time to hair the evidence!
Photo by Julie Russell/LLNL
Move over, DNA profilers. Scientists are developing a potentially more powerful technique to identify criminals from their hair.
Cancer’s development and progression represent an evolutionary process.
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Humans can more easily tolerate tumours in large or paired organs than in small, critical ones. This could be why the latter have evolved more cancer-fighting mechanisms.
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Scientists have uncovered the genetics that explain the snake’s impressive length – and used the science to create extra-long mice.
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Understanding the genetic origins of sharks’ teeth could one day lead to new treatments for humans.
Fischer et al
Scientists have discovered two new types of ants in the rainforests of New Guinea thanks to an advanced X-ray imaging technique.
University of Nottingham
Dolly the sheep died young with osteoarthritis, but new evidence shows early-onset diseases aren’t inevitable for clones.
Smithsonian's National Zoo/flickr
Our planet’s huge range of environments has led some animals to evolve some bizarre but very useful features.
Fleas get a free ride - and there’s not much in it for the dog.
Kristian Niemi/Flickr
Do you know your parasites from your gut commensals? Read this and you will.
The “Roman” nose, such as the Colossus of Constantine (from c. 312–315 AD), has been a target of both admiration and abuse.
Jean-Christophe BENOIST/wikimedia
The genes controlling nose shape can reveal a lot about our evolutionary history.
Simulating the human brain is proving tricky. But could mathematics based on symmetries help?
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Scientists uncover hidden mathematical structures controlling how living cells operate. If this could be used by computers of the future, we may one day be able to understand the brain.
DNA: the EU in us all.
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Our bodies are teeming with petty bureaucrats and red tape – it’s the very fabric for life on Earth.
There’s a battle for resources going on in there.
Christian Glatz
Embryos greedily want more resources than their fair share. New research investigates how early in evolution their hormonal tactics arose.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are at the center of Zika virus’ spread.
Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters
Look beyond transgenic techniques that add new genes to a species. People have used selective breeding techniques to change plants and animals for millennia – why not try them on mosquitoes?
Texas blind salamander.
John Perry/Flickr
A new project hopes to drill through the Earth’s crust for the first time. But what beasties lurk deep beneath our feet?
Women taking their husband’s surname after marriage potentially reinforces gender roles and the unequal status of women and men within marriage and society.
AAP/Robert McGrath
A new journal article has proposed that women changing their surname acts as a signal of fidelity to their husbands.
The difficult thing is how to measure it, because people will probably over-estimate.
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If you’re a non-scientist, you might have once asked yourself, propped against the bedhead after disappointingly quick intercourse, how long does sex “normally” last?
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Cat-borne parasites that may affect human aggression aren’t the only microscopic freeloaders that influence their hosts’ brains.
A native Australian gecko, Gehyra dubia.
Eric Vanderduys
If you’re hearing a strange chatter in your home, you may have gecko housemates.
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New research shows fish are more similar to complex animals like humans and other mammals than we previously thought.