#biological-material

[ follow ]
OMG science
fromArs Technica
3 days ago

Research roundup: 7 cool science stories we almost missed

Raccoons exhibit flexible problem-solving skills, thriving in human environments by successfully navigating complex puzzles.
Agriculture
fromEarth911
3 days ago

Biochar Was a Billion-Ton Dream, the Reality Is More Complicated

Biochar can store carbon and improve soil health, but recent analysis warns against overhyping its potential.
SF food
fromFast Company
4 days ago

I ate lab-grown salmon. It was nothing like I expected

Lab-grown fish offers a sustainable alternative to traditional fishing, addressing concerns about animal harm and environmental impact.
#sustainability
Coffee
fromFast Company
1 week ago

Why sustainable products fail-and what actually gets people to use them

Sustainable products fail when they require more care; they succeed when they minimize friction and simplify user behavior.
Environment
fromNature
6 days ago

How buildings and cities can be aligned with life

Buildings currently harm the environment, but regenerative design can restore ecological systems and reduce waste through nature-inspired strategies.
Science
fromFuturism
4 days ago

A Startup Has Been Quietly Pitching Cloned Human Bodies to Transfer Your Brain Into

Cloning efforts have evolved from animals to controversial human embryo models, with ambitions for brainless human clones for organ transplants.
Design
fromYanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News
4 days ago

Biomimetic Architecture Reaches New Heights With This Bird-of-Paradise Yoga Space - Yanko Design

Thilina Liyanage's architecture translates animal gestures into functional designs, exemplified by the Rifle Bird Yogashala inspired by the Victoria's riflebird's courtship display.
Environment
fromArchDaily
5 days ago

How to Measure the Life Cycle of a Construction Material?

The construction industry significantly impacts the environment, consuming 32% of global energy and contributing to 34% of global CO₂ emissions.
#microplastics
fromFuturism
5 days ago
OMG science

You Know How Scientists Keep Finding Microplastics Literally Everywhere? Well, You'd Never Guess What Their Lab Gloves Are Coated in Straight Out of the Packaging

fromFuturism
2 months ago
Environment

Scientists Just Discovered Something Horrid About Those Disposable Coffee Cups You've Been Slurping

Science
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

A bombshell': doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body

High-profile findings of microplastics in human tissues likely reflect contamination and methodological limitations, leaving health impacts uncertain.
Science
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

The Guardian view on microplastics research: questioning results is good for science, but has political consequences | Editorial

Studies measuring micro- and nanoplastics in humans show methodological flaws that cast doubt on reported quantities and reveal preventable systemic problems.
OMG science
fromFuturism
5 days ago

You Know How Scientists Keep Finding Microplastics Literally Everywhere? Well, You'd Never Guess What Their Lab Gloves Are Coated in Straight Out of the Packaging

Skepticism grows in the scientific community regarding microplastics research due to potential methodological errors and contamination issues.
fromFuturism
2 months ago
Environment

Scientists Just Discovered Something Horrid About Those Disposable Coffee Cups You've Been Slurping

Non-profit organizations
fromNature
1 week ago

'Continuity over novelty': why environmental science needs to rethink its focus

The closure of forest-service research offices threatens long-term ecological research and institutional memory in the US.
fromNature
6 days ago

Now is the time for scientific societies to guide global research

Modern scientific societies are increasingly vulnerable due to their dependence on membership fees and journal subscriptions, which are being challenged by the rise of virtual networking and open-access publishing.
Science
fromTechCrunch
1 week ago

Exclusive: Cauldron Ferm has turned microbes into nonstop assembly lines | TechCrunch

"We didn't know what we had," Michele Stansfield, co-founder and CEO of Cauldron Ferm, told TechCrunch. But eventually, Stansfield realized they had more than initially thought.
Venture
Medicine
fromWIRED
1 week ago

A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow 'Organ Sacks' to Replace Animal Testing

R3 Bio proposes nonsentient organ sacks as an ethical alternative to animal testing in biotechnology.
Design
fromArchDaily
1 week ago

Designing with Living Matter: 5 Installations Using Bio-Based Materials and Digital Fabrication

Architecture must integrate ecological considerations and material intelligence to transform design practices and reduce environmental impact.
Medicine
fromwww.bbc.com
2 weeks ago

Lab-grown food pipe offers new hope for young patients

Scientists have successfully grown and transplanted fully functioning food pipes in mini pigs, offering hope for patients with oesophageal conditions.
Science
fromNature
1 week ago

Zombieland: Genome transplant brings 'dead' bacteria back to life

Researchers have revived 'dead' bacterial cells by replacing their DNA with a working genome from another species, advancing genome engineering.
Environment
fromEarth911
1 week ago

Guest Idea: What Really Happens After You Drop Off Recycling?

Recycling involves a complex journey from collection to sorting, influenced by local policies, technology, and consumer demand.
Medicine
fromNature
2 weeks ago

Lab-grown oesophagus restores pigs' ability to swallow

Bioengineered oesophagi from stem cells successfully implanted in pigs, restoring swallowing ability, with potential applications for human treatments.
fromdesignboom | architecture & design magazine
2 weeks ago

stretchable robotic fingers for surgery decomposes in soil and becomes fertilizer

The body of the robotic fingers is built from polyglycerol sebacate, a synthetic elastomer made from glycerol and sebacic acid. Glycerol is a byproduct of biodiesel production while sebacic acid is derived from castor oil, and both of them are plant-based. Polyglycerol sebacate is safe since it is already used in medical implants because the body can absorb it without a toxic response.
Science
#de-extinction
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says they can

Colossal Biosciences is using ancient DNA and gene editing to resurrect extinct species including dire wolves, woolly mammoths, and dodos, raising questions about the ethics and feasibility of de-extinction technology.
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says they can

Colossal Biosciences is using ancient DNA and gene editing to resurrect extinct species including dire wolves, woolly mammoths, and dodos, raising questions about the ethics and feasibility of de-extinction technology.
Medicine
fromThe Atlantic
2 weeks ago

Everyone Is a Biohacker Now

Vyleesi, a prescription female libido drug, is being purchased off-label by men through online retailers exploiting 'research use only' disclaimers to circumvent prescription requirements.
Science
fromNature
2 weeks ago

Synthetic circuits for cell ratio control - Nature

Synthetic biology enables artificial cell differentiation and division of labor by engineering genetic and epigenetic circuits that mimic natural stem cell asymmetric division processes.
Design
fromArchDaily
3 weeks ago

Facing the Age of Robots? Material Innovation in Architectural Structures

Robotic technology in construction extends beyond automation and cost reduction to fundamentally reshape architectural design, material experimentation, and construction methodologies through collaborative human-robot workflows.
OMG science
fromwww.nature.com
3 weeks ago

Polymers with purpose: molecules can squirm free of the pack

Densely packed long molecular chains like chromosomes can move past neighboring molecules through crawling motion, according to computer simulations and theoretical modeling.
Cancer
fromFuturism
1 month ago

Bacteria Engineered to Eat Tumors From the Inside

Researchers engineered Clostridium sporogenes bacteria to consume tumor cells from inside, offering a potential alternative to traditional cancer treatments.
Science
fromNature
3 weeks ago

How bioRxiv changed the way biologists share ideas - in numbers

bioRxiv has grown to over 310,000 preprints since 2013, with neuroscientists as top users and monthly submissions reaching 4,000 by 2025, demonstrating widespread acceptance of preprint publishing in scientific research.
fromEarth911
1 month ago

How to Recycle or Dispose of Single-Use Alkaline Batteries

Never place batteries of any type in your curbside recycling bin. Batteries can damage recycling equipment and, if lithium batteries are mixed in, cause fires. Always use designated battery collection programs.
Environment
Science
fromNature
3 weeks ago

From cancer to Alzheimer's: could a renewed focus on energy transform biomedicine?

Energy flow, governed by universal physics principles, provides a more fundamental understanding of biological processes and disease than molecular mechanisms alone.
OMG science
fromArs Technica
1 month ago

Research roundup: Six cool science stories we almost missed

Scientists revived Edison's nickel-iron battery design using protein scaffolding and graphene oxide, creating an aerogel structure for improved renewable energy storage with extended range and longevity.
Environment
fromEarth911
1 month ago

Sustainability In Your Ear: The Forest Stewardship Councils' Path to a Circular Bio-based Future with Loa Dalgaard Worm

Forests face unsustainable depletion from rising demand for wood fiber, requiring circular economy models and new incentive systems to protect remaining forests while meeting material needs.
OMG science
fromNature
1 month ago

Why 'quantum proteins' could be the next big thing in biology

Fluorescent proteins from crystal jellyfish are being transformed into quantum bits to create highly sensitive quantum sensors for biological applications.
fromAeon
1 month ago

In solarpunk cities of the future, tech follows nature's lead | Aeon Essays

In Indra's Net of pearls and jewels, every gem reflects every other, a shimmering image of interdependence. This ancient Vedic metaphor for connection across the cosmos also illuminates what the environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht first proposed in 2014as 'theSymbiocene': the era after the Anthropocene, in which human technologies take their cues from living systems and work in partnership rather than through dominance.
Philosophy
Books
fromNature
2 months ago

Marvellous microbes, memory and the multiverse: Books in brief

Microscopy uncovered microbes and cellular anatomy; biosemiotics connects life and sign systems; memory constitutes both reader and read of personal identity.
Fashion & style
fromFast Company
1 month ago

These pretty textiles are made out of human hair

Human hair can be repurposed into durable biotextiles resembling coarse wool and combined with resins for improved structural stability.
fromNature
1 month ago

The age of animal experiments is waning. Where will science go next?

Last November, the UK government announced a bold plan to phase out animal testing in some areas of research. Animal tests for skin irritation are scheduled for elimination this year, and some studies on dogs should be slashed by 2030. The long-term vision is 'a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances'.
Science
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Can Accepting Our Biological Heritage Improve the World?

Biological imperative centers on protecting, promoting, and propagating genetic code, shaping behavior, sex-specific roles, physiology, and intergenerational wellbeing.
fromNature
2 months ago

This AI has chemical expertise - and helps synthesize 35 new drugs and materials

Now, researchers have created an artificial-intelligence system that vastly simplifies and accelerates the process of chemical synthesis. The system, which is called MOSAIC and is described in a study published in Nature on 19 January, recommended conditions that researchers were able to use to generate 35 compounds with the potential to become products like pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals or cosmetics without needing to do any further trawling or tweaking.
Artificial intelligence
Medicine
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

Longevity Medicine Is Being Oversold

Modern longevity medicine is booming due to social-media-driven marketing despite limited placebo-controlled evidence and risks of patient harm.
fromNature
1 month ago

AI tools can design genomes. Will they upend how life evolves?

Biology is undergoing a transformation. After centuries of studying life as it evolves naturally, researchers are now using a combination of computation and genome engineering to intervene, generating new proteins and even whole bacteria from scratch. The use of artificial-intelligence tools to design biological components, an approach known as generative biology, is set to turbocharge this area of research. Just last year, scientists used AI-assisted design to produce artificial genes that can be expressed in mammalian cells.
Science
Design
fromwww.archdaily.com
2 months ago

From Material Intelligence to Circularity: Lessons from Architecture in 2025

Architects prioritize material innovation in 2025—agricultural waste, recycled plastics, and living materials—balancing tradition, circularity, and material intelligence for resilient, low-carbon construction.
fromArs Technica
1 month ago

Have we leapt into commercial genetic testing without understanding it?

Martschenko's argument is largely that genetic research and data have almost always been used thus far as a justification to further entrench extant social inequalities. But we know the solutions to many of the injustices in our world-trying to lift people out of poverty, for example-and we certainly don't need more genetic research to implement them. Trejo's point is largely that more information is generally better than less.
Science
Medicine
fromFuturism
2 months ago

Plastic Surgeons Are Using Material From Dead People on New Patients

Surgeons increasingly use alloClae processed fat from deceased donors for body contouring, offering faster recovery and avoiding general anesthesia.
fromdesignboom | architecture & design magazine
1 month ago

recontextualizing human hair waste as potential raw material for design

This research-based design project by Laura Oliveira investigates discarded as a potential raw material for sustainable design applications. Human hair is produced continuously and in large quantities through everyday grooming practices, yet it is almost always treated as waste once separated from the body and typically disposed of in landfills. Despite its material properties, strength, flexibility, and durability as a keratin-based protein fiber, its remains uncommon within design and research contexts.
Design
fromdesignboom | architecture & design magazine
1 month ago

compostable plastic bags made of seaweed are designed to break down and not be recycled

They write, 'through clever processing changes, this material is now stronger, more beautiful, and available in higher volumes at a lower price point.' The design remains the same with the frosted look, and this time, it can carry loads better but still lasts only as long as it's needed. After use, the bags can be placed in home compost or industrial compost systems, where they break down into healthy soil.
Environment
fromFast Company
1 month ago

These designers made a sustainable new building material from corn

This corn-based construction material was made by Manufactura, a Mexican sustainable materials company, and it imagines a second life for waste from the most widely produced grain in the world. The project started as an invitation by chef Jorge Armando, the founder of catering brand Taco Kween Berlin, to find ways he could reintegrate waste generated by his taqueria into architecture. A team led by designer Dinorah Schulte created corncretl during a residency last year in Massa Lombarda, Italy.
Science
Environment
fromNature
2 months ago

Defossilize our chemical world

Achieving net zero requires eliminating fossil fuels while sourcing carbon for fuels and chemicals from sustainable, circular, non-fossil sources.
fromNature
2 months ago

48 hours without lungs: artificial organ kept man alive until transplant

A 33-year-old man survived for 48 hours without his lungs, after a medical team replaced the organs with an external artificial-lung system that it developed to keep him alive until he could receive a double lung transplant. There have been cases in which people have had their lungs removed and been connected to an external device to maintain oxygen levels.
Medicine
fromEarth911
2 months ago

Recycling Mystery: Black-Colored Plastic

Black plastic gets its color from carbon black pigment and is commonly used in food containers, such as meat or produce trays and take-out containers, as well as disposable coffee lids, plastic bags, and hard plastic items like DVD cases and planters. While plastic is one of the categories of things that we are encouraged to recycle - when we can't reuse or repurpose it - not all black plastic items can be recycled.
Environment
fromNature
2 months ago

I know science can't fix the world - here's why I do it anyway

His message is clear: our world is built on abundant energy, around 80% of which has come from fossil fuels over the past 50 years. Because supplies are limited, energy consumption will peak in decades - sooner if humans attempt to limit climate change. To keep global warming below 1.5 °C by 2100, the use of fossil fuels must fall by 5-8% each year - a pace that is too fast for low-carbon energy to keep up with.
Environment
fromNature
1 month ago

Nanoscience is latest discipline to embrace large-scale replication efforts

Calling nanoscientists: your field needs you to try to replicate a landmark finding that quantum dots can act as biosensors inside living cells. As part of the first large-scale effort in the physical sciences to tackle the reproducibility crisis, researchers in France and the Netherlands are offering funds and resources in exchange for a few months of work. "We are trying to use
Science
Environment
fromEarth911
2 months ago

Guest Idea: The Cradle to Cradle Mindset Is A Call for Bold Leadership

Cradle-to-cradle leadership transforms wastewater into recoverable energy, nutrients, and reusable water, enabling renewable energy, fertilizer production, and expanded water reuse.
Science
fromFast Company
2 months ago

These molecules are remaking manufacturing

Advances in catalysts and enzymes are transforming plant-based processing into precise, energy-efficient, foundational infrastructure for lower-carbon manufacturing.
Science
fromMail Online
2 months ago

Scientists use AI to create a virus never seen before

Scientists used AI and gene-assembly tools to create Evo-Φ2147, a novel 11-gene virus designed to kill pathogenic E. coli.
Environment
fromEarth911
2 months ago

Recycling Mystery: Silicone Products

Silicone is durable and hard to recycle through regular municipal systems, but mail-in programs and specialized services now offer recycling options.
Science
fromArs Technica
2 months ago

Research roundup: 6 cool stories we almost missed

Mineral fingerprinting and zircon analysis indicate humans transported Stonehenge stones from distant quarries, not glaciers.
Science
fromAxios
1 month ago

The narrow slice of data that worries biosecurity experts

Certain biological datasets that materially increase misuse risk should be governed like sensitive health records while most biological data remains openly accessible.
Environment
fromABC7 Los Angeles
2 months ago

New year, greener you: 20 items to kickstart your environmental resolutions

A curated set of reusable, biodegradable, and low-waste household items enables easier adoption of eco-friendly habits and reduces single-use waste.
Science
fromArs Technica
2 months ago

Fungus could be the insecticide of the future

Certain strains of Beauveria bassiana can infect and kill Eurasian spruce bark beetles despite beetles’ enhanced antimicrobial defenses.
Science
fromNature
3 months ago

Science in 2026: what to expect this year

2026 will feature small reasoning AI models challenging LLMs, gene‑editing clinical trials for rare disorders, a Phobos sample mission, and US policy shifts affecting science.
Science
fromwww.independent.co.uk
1 month ago

How spider silk could be key to repairing damaged nerves in humans

A combination of spider silk and silkworm silk offers a promising method to repair severe nerve injuries, potentially reducing reliance on autograft surgery.
Science
fromNature
2 months ago

Marvellous microbes, memory and the multiverse: Books in brief

Leeuwenhoek's microscopic discoveries illuminated microbes and cells; biosemiotics links human and nonhuman sign systems; memory entwines the remembering and the remembered.
Science
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

On the Future of Species by Adrian Woolfson review are we on the verge of creating synthetic life?

Humans are on the verge of creating synthetic species that will coexist with natural life, offering major benefits while posing significant ecological and ethical risks.
Science
fromThe Walrus
2 months ago

What Do Microbes Have to Do with How We Age? Everything, Actually | The Walrus

Microbes profoundly influence human aging and health and represent a promising frontier for interventions to delay age-related decline.
Science
fromNature
2 months ago

Construction of complex and diverse DNA sequences using DNA three-way junctions - Nature

DNA writing remains limited by short oligo synthesis and two-way junction assembly methods, hindering affordable, scalable construction of large, complex synthetic DNA.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Pesticides may drastically shorten fish lifespans, study finds

Signs of ageing accelerated when fish were exposed to the chemicals, according to the study, which could have implications for other organisms. Chemical safety regulations tend to focus on short-term exposure to high doses of pesticides and other chemicals, but the study focused on long-term exposure. Low doses of pesticides are widespread in the environment, so their effects should be studied and understood, the authors said.
Science
Science
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
2 months ago

Life's evil twins, called mirror cells, could wipe us out if scientists don't stop them

Engineered mirror-image bacteria used to manufacture durable drugs can evade immune detection and cause uncontrollable infections and environmental spread.
Science
fromwww.nature.com
2 months ago

Author Correction: An autonomous laboratory for the accelerated synthesis of inorganic materials

Prediction platform correctly identified 36 of 40 synthesized compounds; four were inconclusive, and novelty claims were clarified as 'new to the prediction platform', not new to science.
Science
fromNature
2 months ago

Temporal tissue dynamics from a spatial snapshot - Nature

Cell population dynamics drive physiological and pathological processes, but human in vivo measurement is limited, requiring new single-cell approaches to infer temporal changes.
[ Load more ]