Ward: Education

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From biting flies to feathered dinosaurs, scientists reveal 70 new species

Researchers announced over 70 new species in a single year, including bizarre insects, ancient dinosaurs, rare mammals, and deep-river fish. Many were found not in the wild, but in museum collections, proving that major discoveries can still be hiding in plain sight.

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2,300-year-old Celtic gold coins found in Swiss bog

Two rare Celtic gold coins were discovered in a Swiss bog, and they may have been left there as an offering to the gods.

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Mystery of King Tut’s jars solved? Yale researchers find opium clues

Traces of opium found inside an ancient alabaster vase suggest drug use was common in ancient Egypt, not rare or accidental. The discovery raises the possibility that King Tut’s famous jars once held opiates valued enough to be buried with pharaohs—and stolen by tomb raiders.

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MBA researchers visit the RRS Sir David Attenborough during Plymouth stopover

Scientists at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) were invited to step aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough on its visit to Plymouth this week, as the state-of-the-art polar research vessel made a short stop at His Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport ahead of its next Antarctic mission. The RRS (Roy…

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Public surveys launched to investigate extraordinary ‘octopus bloom’ in South West waters

The Marine Biological Association (MBA) has launched two public surveys to gather vital information on the unusual surge in common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) numbers reported in the waters off the south coast of Devon and Cornwall this year. Numbers of octopus have been rising off the coast of Devon…

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Why evolution rewarded ants that sacrificed protection

Some ants thrive by choosing numbers over strength. Instead of heavily protecting each worker, they invest fewer resources in individual armor and produce far more ants. Larger colonies then compensate with collective behaviors like group defense and coordinated foraging. The strategy has been linke…

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The evolution of expendability: Why some ants traded armor for numbers

Ants with lots of workers tend to put less energy into making them armored.

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MIT HEALS leadership charts a bold path for convergence in health and life sciences

Angela Koehler, Iain Cheeseman, and Katharina Ribbeck are shaping the collaborative as a platform for transformative research, translation, and talent development across MIT.

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MIT scientists strip cancer of its sugar shield

Scientists at MIT and Stanford have unveiled a promising new way to help the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. Their strategy targets a hidden “off switch” that tumors use to stay invisible to immune defenses—special sugar molecules on the cancer cell surface that sup…

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Don’t hold back, swearing can boost performance by lowering inhibitions, study finds

Study finds dropping an expletive can raise confidence and help people push harder during physically demanding tasksIt may not be in keeping with the festive spirit, but if you find yourself dropping the F-word while wrestling a Christmas tree up a flight of stairs, scientists say you could be on to…

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Are they really listening? Watch their blinks

Your eyes may reveal when your brain is working overtime. Researchers found that people blink less when trying to understand speech in noisy environments, especially during the most important moments. The effect stayed the same in bright or dark rooms, showing it’s driven by mental effort, not light…

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Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on beach

More than 400 leather hobnailed boots, thought to date back to the 19th Century, have been found.

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A better DNA material for genetic medicine

With its circular single-stranded DNA molecules, MIT spinout Kano Therapeutics plans to make gene and cell therapies safer and more effective.

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This “mushroom” is not a fungus, it’s a bizarre plant that breaks all the rules

Balanophora is a plant that abandoned photosynthesis long ago and now lives entirely as a parasite on tree roots, hidden in dark forest undergrowth. Scientists surveying rare populations across East Asian islands uncovered how its cellular machinery shrank but didn’t disappear, revealing unexpected …

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Scientists found a new way to slow aging inside cells

A small tweak to mitochondrial energy production led to big gains in health and longevity. Mice engineered to boost a protein that helps mitochondria work more efficiently lived longer and showed better metabolism, stronger muscles, and healthier fat tissue. Their cells produced more energy while di…

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