By simulating the life cycle of a minimal bacterial cell — from DNA replication to protein translation to metabolism and cell division — scientists have opened a new frontier of computer vision into the essential processes of life.

New modular legged robot comprises multiple smaller autonomous robots. Each athletic module is a complete robot with its own motor, battery and brain. Together, modules form larger machines that can be rapidly assembled, repaired or reshaped on the fly. Study marks first evolved robot to set foot outdoors and first modular robot with agility.

The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has published its latest compilation of gravitational-wave detections, showing the universe is echoing all over with a kaleidoscope of cosmic collisions.

A giant database of over 2000 ant species in 3D, generated from micro-CT scans at micrometer resolution, democratizes access to extremely detailed morphology for researchers, artists, and educators.

Antscan used high-throughput X-ray micro-CT scanning powered by a synchrotron particle accelerator. These 3D images don’t merely show the exterior exoskeleton of the ants, but also reveal their internal structures like muscles, nervous system, digestive system, and stingers in extreme detail. A new Nature Methods paper presents both the data and the workflow that acquired it, providing a blueprint for large-scale quantification projects in the future. The database has already been used to answer fundamental questions about ant biology, and many more projects are underway.