University at Buffalo researchers have shown that a considerable portion of a human’s roughly 20,000 genes express more like a standard light switch — fully on or fully off. 

A newly discovered, raccoon-sized armored monstersaurian from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah, United States, reveals a surprising diversity of large lizards at the pinnacle of the age of dinosaurs. Named for the goblin prince from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” the new species Bolg amondol also illuminates the sometimes-murky path that life traveled between ancient continents.

Texas A&M anthropologist Dr. Heather B. Thakar uncovers the 11,000-year history of avocado domestication at El Gigante Rockshelter, revealing how ancient Hondurans shaped the evolution of this globally significant crop.

In a landmark study published in Science Advances, Vanderbilt researchers have created the first high-resolution lipid atlas of the human kidney, mapping over 100,000 functional tissue units across 29 donors. By integrating advanced imaging mass spectrometry with microscopy using machine learning, the team identified distinct lipid signatures that could transform diagnostics and precision treatments for kidney disease.