A project led by the University of Barcelona and the University of La Laguna will sequence the complete genome of the spider Dysdera curvisetae, a species endemic to the Canary Islands that has its natural habitat in the intertidal zone in the coast of Tenerife. This initiative is one of the twenty projects to be promoted by the European Reference Genome Atlas Consortium (ERGA) — the European node of the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) — which aims to sequence reference genomes of species of eukaryotic organisms to improve the management and conservation of biodiversity in European territory.

FQxI grant winner and quantum physicist Natalia Ares, of the University of Oxford, UK, and her colleagues suspect the key to understanding time may be to study the fundamental physics of timekeeping which, unlike the technological aspect, is largely unknown. With a grant of over US$1.8-million from FQxI, they have made discoveries that may one day help us make sense of the enigmatic fourth dimension.

Large language models are changing the way that people create and communicate, but they can also change the way we do science. Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory hope to demystify these tools and share how they’re shaping future research.

Methane is the most famous volatile organic compound (VOC) in our atmosphere. This week, our host George Zaidan follows up on a Reactions subscriber’s question about the 600 teragrams of a less famous VOC released every year: isoprene. Used in the biosynthesis of a staggering number of molecules, isoprene is also released from plants, including many species of trees. And they release exponentially more isoprene as the temperatures climb. In large cities, isoprene can react with nitrogen oxides from fossil-fuel combustion to create ground-level ozone. Join George as he explores whether this should change how we think about trees.

The University of Tennessee is at the forefront of the groundbreaking effort to quickly repair military vehicles in the field using expeditionary manufacturing equipment—a WarpSPEE3D printer, which uses cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) technology, and VRC’s Brolga-002 mobile cold spray system. 

At the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, cats aren’t just patients, they’re VIPs (very important pets). And that world-class care extends far beyond campus, as the research conducted by Mizzou veterinarians is improving feline health worldwide.

To celebrate National Cat Day on Oct. 29, here are four purr-fect examples of how research from Mizzou cat geneticist Leslie Lyons and Gretchen Carlisle, from Mizzou’s Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, has improved the way we understand and interact with these whiskered wonders.

Natural hazards like hurricanes can take a higher than average toll to life and property on certain population groups, such as the elderly. A dataset that highlights vulnerable populations in hazard response plans was awarded a 2024 DesignSafe Dataset Award. 

By measuring the brain’s electrical signals, researchers in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology's Cognition and Brain Lab explore how the brain links sensory information to meaning and memory.