A Mysterious Desert Bacterium Has Evolved Its Own, Unique Ability to Photosynthesize

Photosynthesis quite literally changed our world. Plants ‘eating’ sunlight and ‘breathing out’ oxygen transformed Earth’s entire atmosphere into the one we now breathe, and fuel our ecosystems with energy.   Now researchers have caught a cunning species of bacteria with stolen photosynthesizing technology. And their molecular, light-eating device is unlike any we’ve ever seen. “The … Read more

A New, ‘Highly Virulent’ HIV Variant Was Just Discovered in Europe

A newfound variant of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been uncovered in the Netherlands and appears to cause faster disease progression compared with other versions of the virus.   The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects and destroys immune cells called CD4 cells in the body, causing the number of these cells to plummet. … Read more

Being a Super-Friendly Dog Has One Potential Drawback, Study Finds

The friendliness of your dog could have serious implications for its social standing with other canines, new research suggests. In a questionnaire designed to measure the personality traits of companion dogs and compare them against their social ranking with other canines in multi-dog families, researchers found that dogs who scored highly for agreeableness and affection … Read more