Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a new embryo culture dish that significantly improves microscope imaging, a longstanding barrier in in‑vitro fertilization (IVF). Traditional 3D “well‑of‑the‑well” dishes help embryos grow but often distort images because their plastic or silicone materials bend light differently than the surrounding culture medium. The team solved this problem by fabricating 3D microwells from agarose, a water‑rich hydrogel that closely matches the optical properties of the medium. Tests showed that the agarose dishes sharply reduced distortions, with performance nearly identical to a flat petri dish, as measured through resolution tests and wavefront sensing. Mouse embryos cultured in the new device developed normally, and imaging revealed clear internal details that are typically obscured in standard 3D dishes. This approach enables both improved embryo growth and high‑quality visualization, offering a pathway toward more accurate embryo selection in IVF.

The ideal scent detection dog is confident, persistent and resilient, without insecurities or neuroticism, according to a study featuring Dutch police dog handlers

Elusive beaked whales off the Louisiana coast may sometimes be diving right to the seafloor, finds new 3D acoustic technology which accurately pinpoints their locations using their echolocation clicks

The vulnerable Amazonian manatee is most often found where human activity is low, with a new eDNA-based method most commonly detecting the freshwater mammal in the remote western Amazon

Dogs who scored well on the Wesen test, which is used to analyze a dog’s temperament, tended to have lower levels of cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” and higher levels of serotonin, often called the “happiness hormone”, according to a study published February 4, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Minjung Yoon from Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea, and colleagues.

Scientists have captured a rare view of one of the ocean’s least understood whales—without ever seeing it. By listening to the sounds beaked whales naturally produce, researchers have reconstructed a three-dimensional picture of their deep-diving behavior in the Gulf of Mexico.