Researchers led by Aurore Perrault at Concordia University, Canada and Valeria Kebets at McGill University, Canada, have used a complex data-driven analysis to uncover relationships among multiple aspects of sleep and individual variation in health, cognition, and lifestyle. Published on October 7^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, the study reveals five sleep-biopsychosocial profiles and their associated patterns of functional connectivity among brain-regions.

A new study published in PNAS this week by scientists at the University of Chicago dissects the inner workings of a “supergene” called doublesex that helps a species of swallowtail butterfly (Papilio alphenor) mimic the wing patterns of other, distantly related species that are toxic to predators.  

We have all been in that situation: the moving boxes are large and heavy, but we are determined to carry them all in one trip, even if that means we can’t see where we’re going. In the tropics, some leaf-cutter ants face a similar challenge: carrying a load that is several times their body weight. To make matters even more difficult, scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama recently discovered that carrying oversized weights may create “blind spots” when leafcutter ants transport material on a trail.

A Stanford-led study found that snow leopards have the lowest genetic diversity among all big cats, a dubious distinction previously held by cheetahs. Without a variety of genetic adaptations to fall back on, the snow leopard population is vulnerable to any drastic change, including the warming climate.

A new manuscript in the Journal of Fish Biology reveals that relationships between fish and sea anemones are more diverse than those portrayed in Finding Nemo. Captured through breathtaking blackwater photography, the images featured in the article show rarely seen encounters between these creatures that may provide mutual benefits.

The Water Research Foundation (WRF) recently presented Lauren Stadler, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, with the 2025 Paul L. Busch Award at the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago. With this $100,000 research prize, Stadler plans to advance wastewater monitoring through the investigation of real-time biosensors that utilize synthetic biology.