Science/Technology

A recent report in the journal Science says climate change has caused bumblebee habitat to shrink by as much as 180 miles in the last 40 years — a pace researchers say is quite alarming.

Jeremy Kerr, the lead author on the study and a professor of biology at the University of Ottawa, says the bumblebee is caught in a kind of vice: its habitat is not extending northward to adjust to changing temperatures and the habitat in its southern range is diminishing.

Right after Pearl Harbor, the US government began construction of a weapons factory on a site just outside of Denver, Colorado. Years later, the plant was converted into a pesticide factory. Now, the site is one of the nation's largest wildlife refuges — and, in part, it's thanks to that majestic American symbol, the bald eagle.

One would think that with medical marijuana now legal in 23 states, the science to support its efficacy would be fairly definitive. Surprisingly, that's not the case.

Despite the fierce political tussles and competing medical claims the truth is this: Very little solid scientific evidence exists to either confirm or dispute marijuana’s effectiveness as a drug or its potential for harm.

When most people think about advanced technology, they imagine robots or hypersonic vehicles or new additions to the Internet of Things. But there is another tool that may have more high-tech potential than anything else: biology.

“Biology can do things that no other man-made technology or chemistry can do,” says Alicia Jackson, deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

A group of researchers have discovered the existence of previously unknown lymphatic vessels in the brain — a stunning find that upends current medical science and could have far-reaching implications for the study and treatment of neurological diseases like Alzheimers and multiple sclerosis.

Ever stood in the grocery aisle staring at 15 kinds of cooking oil, wondering which is the best one to buy? Which is the healthiest? Which is the best for cooking? Well, here are a few basic tips that might help.

Jurassic World, the long-awaited sequel to the monster hit, Jurassic Park, is finally here. Critics agree it is “visually dazzling,” but how does it rate with scientists who really know this stuff?

Apparently, the needle on the scientific Groan-o-Meter is pretty high on this one, though scientists are often loathe to spoil movie-goers’ fun.

Repurposing works for shoes and even furniture, but what about drugs?

Researchers are looking at existing drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of one disease, to be used on another.

Dr. Denise Faustmann, the director of immunobiology at Mass General and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is doing just that. She’s investigating whether diabetes could be treated with the common tuberculosis vaccine BCG.

It's more that a tie, bedsheets or a comfy, sleek shirt or dress. Get ready for silk's role in state-of-the-art medical devices.

If someone told you that you and a slice of bread have a common genetic heritage, you probably wouldn't believe it. Yet it's true.

As it turns out, yeast and human genes go way, way back: About a billion years ago, we had a common ancestor. Today, yeast and humans still share about 4,000 genes in common.

Lucy, otherwise known as Australopithecus afarensis, long considered to be the lone ancestor of modern humans, may have had a sibling. Or perhaps we should say a cousin.

Astronaut twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly have each been in space four times — but never for as long as a year and never as the subjects of their own human study.

Now, NASA has sent Scott Kelly up to the International Space Station and kept his brother Mark here on Earth to test what a full year of zero gravity will do to the human body. 

“Most of the comparative research involves samples of blood, urine and other things,” Scott Kelly explains. Scott regularly takes blood samples and sends them back to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft. 

If you’ve noticed your beefsteak tomatoes have been a little beefier, it’s not a figment of your imagination.

Produce is getting plumper these days. Farmers have been cross-breeding plants for hundreds of years to make bigger, better crops. But one fruit in particular, the tomato, has genes to thank for its newfound girth.

Zach Lippman, an associate professor of plant genetics at The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, and his team have been studying why some plants in the same species, under the same conditions, grow larger — or produce more fruit — than others.