A 50-year love affair with hairy caterpillars reveals their squirmy secrets

Western tent caterpillars might not be on your mind every year, but during their peak outbreaks, they’re impossible to ignore—hairy larvae wriggling across roads and swarms of caterpillars climbing houses to form yellow silken cocoons.

They’re certainly on the mind of Dr. Judith Myers, UBC professor, who has spent five decades studying this native moth species and their boom-and-bust population cycles.

In this Q&A, she discusses her journey and findings from  a recently published study, including the caterpillars’ surprising resistance to climate change.

Targeting cellular structures called nuclear speckles could be a completely new approach for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh. 

BUFFALO, NY — August 11, 2025 — Aging (Aging-US) is proud to support a milestone event for the global senescence and aging research community.

Global experts converge in Valencia to discuss the biology of skin ageing and accelerate science-based strategies for prevention, repair, and rejuvenation. The 16th International Congress on Skin Ageing & Challenges (November 11–12, 2025) will spotlight breakthroughs in senescence biology, epigenetic regulation, microbiome restoration, and smart skincare technologies. By bridging fundamental science with clinical and industrial innovation, the meeting aims to chart a roadmap for healthy skin longevity across the lifespan.

A new study has found that the global biodiversity targets adopted in 2022 are in line with scientific research and represent a significant improvement on the Aichi Targets adopted in 2010. In the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, an international research team reports that the updated targets effectively address the inherent complexity of biodiversity, thus reducing the risk of missing critical changes in marine biodiversity.

How do plants regenerate roots from scratch after being wounded? In this study, scientists used spatial transcriptomics and time-series gene expression analysis to trace poplar root regeneration from its earliest stages.