Students at Exeter University have successfully demonstrated that genetically engineered bacteria could help to create breathable air on Mars when combined with perchlorate salts. Students from Exeter University have suggested that genetically engineered bacteria has the possibility to completely transform Mars and create a habitable planet that has breathable air after new research conducted in a lab showed that salts that can be retrieved from Martian soil could help to fuel this process.

IN 2013, Google cofounder and CEO Larry Page announced the formation of a new Alphabet entity dedicated to solving the pesky puzzle of mortality. Since then, the billion-dollar longevity lab known as Calico—short for California Life Company—has been trying to tease apart the fundamental biology of aging in the hopes of one day defeating death.

Built from the bottom up, synthetic cells and other creations are starting to come together and could soon test the boundaries of life. By Kendall Powell.

Why is my awareness here, while yours is over there? Why is the universe split in two for each of us, into a subject and an infinity of objects?

An Israeli biotech company specializing in HIV and cancer treatments has finally released the results of its first clinical trial of its HIV-drug Gammora and the news is bringing renewed hope to the many affected by this devastating retrovirus. The novel drug has been found to eliminate up to 99% of the HIV virus within four weeks of treatment.

Rich visual parallels between [Australian] Indigenous artworks and microscopic natural structures hidden in the world around us reveal unexpected and intriguing similarities that can deepen our respect for our country and its stories. By Roger Wepf.

Researchers have created a llama-inspired mega protein capable of neutralizing 59 different strains of influenza. By Meilan Solly.

Monsters once inhabited the mysterious fringes of the known world. In our human-dominated present, can they still be found? By Natalie Lawrence.

Around 75% of our faeces is made up of water. The other 25% is the good stuff, including bacteria, viruses and undigested food.

In separate studies published online in Nature on Aug. 1, two independent research teams report the discovery of a new, rare type of cell in the human airway. These cells appear to be the primary source of activity of the CFTR gene, mutations to which cause cystic fibrosis, a multiorgan disease that affects more than 70,000 people worldwide.

The deep red gems have long been found marred with internal markings. Researchers propose a new explanation involving fungal microorganisms who have found a nice place to live. By Veronique Greenwood.

A handful of species have seemingly avoided the aging process. By Erica Tennenhouse.

Only when flowering is Pilostyles visible externally, the flowers erupting from the stems of its host like a weird botanical Alien.

Salamanders in the European Alps and elsewhere can put off developing into adults for years—or their entire lives—in certain circumstances. By Elizabeth Anne Brown.

A team of researchers headed by University of British Columbia scientist Stephen Withers reports on enzymes -- from the human gut -- that remove A or B antigens from red blood cells 30 times more efficiently than previously reported enzymes.

It looks like something out of a sad fairy tale. Tiny ants are pulling over petals, making a pile, and on top rests a dead bumblebee. By Jacinta Bowler.

The evidence is in. A mysterious creature that lived on Earth over half a billion years ago has now been proven an animal. A fossil from 558 million years ago was so well preserved, it still had fat molecules.

After more than a century of slicing tiny, inflamed organs from people’s guts, doctors have found that surgery may not be necessary after all—a simple course of antibiotics can be just as effective at treating appendicitis as going under the knife. The revelation comes from a large, randomized trial out of Finland, published Tuesday, September 25, in JAMA.

Scientists are a big step closer to creating a fast, affordable DNA test to predict your risk of heart attack.

Silicon Valley takes on the quest for immortality.

The late physicist and author Prof Stephen Hawking has caused controversy by suggesting a new race of superhumans could develop from wealthy people choosing to edit their and their children’s DNA. Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, who died in March, made the predictions in a collection of articles and essays.

A newly discovered role for the enzyme glutamine synthetase could have important implications for developing anti-cancer drugs according to a new UCL study. An intrinsic part of tumour growth is the sprouting of blood vessels, which supply cancerous tumours with the blood and energy that they need to survive.

Scientists seek to crack an evolutionary code.

The aesthetically challenged naked mole rat could offer clues to battling disease and slowing the effects of aging.

As our brains become increasingly intertwined with our technologies, we run the risk of exposing our minds to hackers. As this new video from AsapScience shows, the possibility is very real.

Three scientists won the Nobel medicine prize on Monday for plotting how cells transfer vital materials such as hormones and brain chemicals to other cells, giving insight into diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism and diabetes.

There have been some interesting creatures popping up in the Arctic. Canadian hunters have found white bears with brown tints—a cross between Ursus maritimus, the polar bear, and Ursus arctos horribilis, the grizzly. A couple of decades ago, off the coast of Greenland, something that appeared to be half-narwhal, half-beluga surfaced, and much more recently, Dall’s porpoise and harbor porpoise mixes have been swimming near British Columbia.

While death's cold, bony fingers will inevitably reach all creatures, Mother Nature has imbued a few of her quirkier children with resilient biology seemingly predisposed to keep mortality at bay. Tapping into their secrets has long been a quest for scientists, not least because the thought of our minds flickering out one day continues to bother most people. Here, in no particular order, are five animals who may just hold to clues to unlocking everlasting life

Tony Goldberg, a US professor of pathobiological science, recently returned from an Africa research trip only to discover that a potentially new species of tick had come back with him hidden up his nose. 

Twenty years ago, sequencing the human genome was one of the most ambitious science projects ever attempted. Today, compared to the collection of genomes of the microorganisms living in our bodies, the ocean, the soil and elsewhere, each human genome, which easily fits on a DVD, is comparatively simple. Its 3 billion DNA base pairs and about 20,000 genes seem paltry next to the roughly 100 billion bases and millions of genes that make up the microbes found in the human body.

The idea that there were several different human species walking the Earth two million years ago has been dealt a blow. Instead, scientists say early human fossils found in Africa and Eurasia may have been part of the same species.

Most scientists conduct their research in a lab, or by working with calculations or simulations on computers. Some engage in field work, perhaps observing animals in the wild or excavating fossils. Then, there’s the team of biologists from Brown University led by Henry Astley that studies the movement of animals and has been conducting some science in a decidedly less conventional atmosphere.

Group of researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has shown that plants can absorb gold particles deep underground and bring it upward through their tissues—a finding that could help mineral exploration companies mine for gold.

Neuroscientists have learned that dendrites do more than just provide passive wiring in the brain. These nerve cell connectors also process information, essentially functioning as tiny computers. Our brains, it would appear, pack more computing power than we assumed.

This is unbelievable, but the fruit fly G tridens has somehow evolved to have what looks like pictures of ants on its wings. Seriously, its transparent wings have an ant design on them complete with "six legs, two antennae, a head, thorax and tapered abdomen." It's nature's evolutionary art painted on a fly's wings.