They’ve survived for billions of years in boiling acid, deep-sea vents and salt flats. Now, some of Earth’s oldest life forms — microbes called Archaea — are offering a new weapon in the fight against one of today’s most urgent health threats: antibiotic resistance. In a new study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used artificial intelligence to identify previously unknown compounds in Archaea that could fuel the development of next-generation antibiotics.

A UC Berkeley study found that social prairie voles lacking the receptor for oxytocin are slow to form friendships, are less motivated to reach their friends, and are less aggressive toward and avoidant of unfamiliar peers. This points toward a role for oxytocin in both the ‘approach’ and ‘avoid’ sides of maintaining specific friendships, affecting selectivity.

When rhesus monkeys are already socially motivated, oxytocin prolongs their social behavior by promoting activity within and communication between two brain areas.

Targeting cellular structures called nuclear speckles could be a completely new approach for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh.