Science

Side by side of mouse embryos. The one on the left appears to be developing normally, but the one on the right has an extra pair of legs.

How turning off one gene causes mice to grow 6 legs

A study of embryo development in mice led to the creation of a mutant mouse fetus with an extra pair of legs in place of genitals.

Kristin Houser

a rendering of three massive silver containers with "Ark" written on them

Food

This startup is trying to solve lab-grown meat’s biggest problem

A biotech startup has developed a new kind of bioreactor that could help increase cultivated meat production.

Kristin Houser

A man in a suit stands next to a robotic arm with computer-brain interfaces on a stage under blue lighting.

Big Tech

In a future with brain-computer interfaces like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, we may need to rethink freedom of thought

In a future with more “mind reading,” thanks to computer-brain interfaces, we may need to rethink freedom of thought.

Parker Crutchfield

A single gene turns on humans' rapid brain growth

Researchers have looked at gene expression in human brain organoids compared to other apes to discover the genetic mechanism crucial to triggering the human brain's rapid growth.

Teresa Carey

Fireflies may use “musical armor” to keep bats at bay

Fireflies’ primary aposematic signal that they’re poisonous may not be visible to bats, so the bugs appear to have a second, sound-based warning sign.

Kristin Houser

Spinach skeleton becomes base for lab-grown meat

After spinach leaves were stripped of their plant cells, the skeletons were used as a scaffold for lab-grown meat.

Kristin Houser

The next generation of living machines: xenobots 2.0

Made from the stem cells of a frog, “Xenobots” are tiny living machines. And researchers have just debuted version 2.0.

B. David Zarley

Boston Dynamics unveils a new robot: Stretch

Boston Dynamics’ second commercial offering is a warehouse robot named Stretch that can lift and move 800, 50-pound boxes every hour.

Kristin Houser

Series| Catalysts

Research grants, the silicon valley way

4:48

In partnership with Stand Together

What if there was a way to fast-forward innovation? An economist and tech billionaire recently joined forces to make research grants available within 14 days.

Jack Berning

This insect swiped a gene from plants to help itself survive

A plant gene has been discovered in whiteflies, marking the first known example of horizontal gene transfer of a functional gene between plants and insects.

Kristin Houser

Researchers have built a mini-lab for mini-brains

Researchers have created a “tiny machine” to better study brain organoids, clumps of stem cells that simulate the brain.

B. David Zarley

Watch Japan’s latest robot painter in action

For SXSW’s AI Painting Project, a robot arm was trained to generate paintings based on given concepts and using a limited number of brushstrokes.

Kristin Houser

bacteria under marine snow brought to life

Scientists brought to life 100-million-year-old bacteria

Researchers successfully resuscitated bacteria from the South Pacific Gyre that were buried under marine snow for 100 million years.

Teresa Carey

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