• Fossil fragments suggest Praearcturus gigas represents the largest scorpion ever discovered, perhaps one metre in length

• Specimens held in the Natural History Museum collection since the 1870s have been reinterpreted using modern techniques

• Giant scorpion lived tens of millions of years before other famous “giant” arthropods, reshaping ideas about how and why early arthropods grew so large

When compared to membrane affinity binding columns and ultracentrifugation, size exclusion chromatography isolation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid yields the lowest contaminating free protein, highest nucleic acid content, and has similar yield of EVs while maintaining EV structure and function for downstream applications.

Structures of the human M-channel reveal a remarkably flexible assembly and the molecular basis for its subthreshold activation, enabling the design of a highly selective activator for precise epilepsy therapy.

Scientists repeatedly sampled microbes from six sites up to 1.5 kilometers deep across four years inside a former goldmine. Microbial ecosystems appear to be structured around shared functions rather than shared species. Each ecosystem was organized around two broad groups of microbes: a stable group and a responsive group. Ecosystems were very different among sites but largely stable through time. Study could have implications for underground engineering projects, including carbon storage.

Young guppies who were able to see and interact with live fish developed larger brains than guppies who only saw other fish on a screen. This is shown in a new study from Stockholm University, published in Biology Letters. The findings suggest that live social interaction in real time may be important for brain development.

Computational chemists at the University of Amsterdam’s Van ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences have developed a comprehensive software suite to create accurate models of DNA in biomolecular assemblies. Called MDNA, the user-friendly molecular modelling toolkit helps biochemists, molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, and biophysicists to visualise and analyse DNA structures and perform accurate simulations.

In a new Nature Communications study, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the Institute of Protein Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences have described in detail a structural adaptation supporting the survival of one of the Dead Sea’s few hardy inhabitants — a single-celled archaea called Haloarcula marismortui (H. marismortui). Using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the researchers characterized the proteins that form the archaeal filament (also known as archaellum), a long tail-like structure essential for movement.

This is the first demonstration of how impressive leaf mimicry can also be used to enhance the attractiveness of a sexual signal. Katydids create songs by rubbing specialised structures on their wings together but in many tropical species, the leaf-mimicking portion makes up the majority of the wing surface. The researchers found that males are able to use the acoustic properties of these structures to their reproductive advantage.