Tag: Biology
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No super-vegetables for Europe
The gene-editing tool CRISPR could help farmers overcome the challenges of malnutrition. But European legislation has closed the door to that technology.
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Drones designed like bugs
Hundreds of millions of years of evolution have given insects the ability to fly efficiently and robustly. Roboticists are taking note.
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Making labour less laborious
Childbirth may be the most important event in a mother’s life, but it can also be the most traumatic. Technology can help.
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The debate over C-sections
The procedure has advantages as well as downsides. Science can help mothers decide what is best for them.
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CRISPR scissors editing embryos
Genetic engineering is developing on human embryos, raising both hopes and ethical concerns.
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Cryopreservation: a new miracle?
Women who want to delay their pregnancies can now freeze their eggs effectively and safely. But success is not guaranteed.
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Europe’s shortage of children
Births are falling across the continent – although not in France. Why do women working in tech have fewer kids? And why are there more premature births?
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Balancing pleasure and health
Our eating habits are often based on accepted wisdom without scientific basis. Researchers are now trying to sort the facts from the myths.
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Labs without borders
Designers working with biologists and engineers: not so long ago such collaboration would have been unusual. Now it is at the heart of European Science.
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Medical solutions inspired by biology
Sharks are a useful model, both for their slick skin and for their antibodies that can be used to treat cancer.
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Turning nature into a factory
How a salamander inspired a robot, a protein became a sensor and a molecule helped design a water purifier.
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Insects in the spotlight
Beetles, butterflies and spiders are some of the bugs that inspire engineers. What makes these insects so prone to imitation?
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Why we don’t sleep
Bad nights are disruptive to a person’s life. Fortunately, scientists are constantly learning more about the causes.
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Tick-tock goes the body clock
You can sleep when you’re dead, they say. In the meantime, though, circadian rhythms are best not tampered with.
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Why we sleep one third of our time
You may think you’re resting, but your brain is fulfilling critical tasks from building memories to reinforcing learning to clearing toxins.
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Extreme scientists on the cutting edge
Six researchers reveal just how far they go to discover some of nature’s deepest secrets or test novel technologies.
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“Modern life is just too interesting to sleep longer”
We spend one third of our time sleeping, but scientists still don’t know why. A prominent researcher reviews the most likely explanations.
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The importance of darkness
For most organisms the absence of light is vital, too.
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Human: too much brightness?
One of the basic certainties that unites all life on this planet: night follows day follows night. But then we started to mess with it.
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The shades of grey
The vision of a world in which everyone lives longer and better is attractive – but for societies the changes will be over-whelming. An ethicist and a sociologist discuss the implications.