Tiny flecks of reddance acrossartificial rivers ofpowdered grain,their movementshalted only by theconfusing stepsof a familiar other.The speed and shapeof their routinesintertwine,dispersing intothe shallowsbefore contortingto crescendosof dual exhaustion.Behind Perspex windowswe sift through cycles;charting shifting patternsacross a habitatmore lab than home. The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons). This poem is […]

Ancient Maya in the once-bustling city of Tikal built sophisticated water filters using natural materials they imported from miles away, according to the University of Cincinnati. UC researchers discovered evidence of a filter system at the Corriental reservoir, an important source of drinking water for the ancient Maya in what is now northern Guatemala. UC […]

Bert Paris loves dairy farming. After more than 30 years, he’s beginning to transition the farm he operates near Belleville, Wisconsin, to his daughter, Meagan Farrell, who is excited about moving her family home to run it. Despite years of terrible headlines about the dairy industry, farmers like Paris and Farrell are bullish on dairy […]

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have discovered a way to control the growth of twisting, microscopic spirals of materials just one atom thick. The continuously twisting stacks of two-dimensional materials built by a team led by UW–Madison chemistry Professor Song Jin create new properties that scientists can exploit to study quantum physics on the […]

Purdue University innovators are taking cues from nature to develop 3D photodetectors for biomedical imaging. The Purdue researchers used some architectural features from spider webs to develop the technology. Spider webs typically provide excellent mechanical adaptability and damage-tolerance against various mechanical loads such as storms. “We employed the unique fractal design of a spider web for […]

What if paint could cool off a building enough to not need air conditioning? Purdue University engineers have created white paint that can keep surfaces up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than their ambient surroundings – almost like a refrigerator does, but without consuming energy. According to the researchers, the paint would replace the need […]

With one of the more awe-inspiring names in the animal kingdom, the diabolical ironclad beetle is one formidable insect. Birds, lizards and rodents frequently try to make a meal of it but seldom succeed. Run over it with a car, and the critter lives on. The beetle’s survival depends on two key factors: its ability […]

UCLA researchers have identified a compound that can reproduce the effect of exercise in muscle cells in mice. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Normally, muscles get stronger as they are used, thanks to a series of chemical signals inside muscle cells. The newly identified compound activates those signals, which suggests that compounds […]