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Cases have passed 4,000 and health watchdog plans to go door to door to find patients in major response escalation The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000. Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go “door to door” looking for patients. Continue reading...

State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and Cameroon The US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China. The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US’s bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. Continue reading...

David Owori, who played for the national team, died in hospital after he tried to stop robbers taking his phone The Ugandan football community is in mourning after the death of a player who was fatally injured during a robbery in the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday night. David Owori, who captained Sports Club Villa, a Uganda Premier League club, and represented the national team, was attacked after resisting an attempt to steal his mobile phone and other belongings near his home in Makindye division. Continue reading...

President hails operation to rescue captives held in dense forests of Kainji Lake national park in north-central region Nigerian security forces have rescued more than 300 abducted people in what the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hailed as the largest single-day hostage recovery in the country’s history. The release was announced on Wednesday after a joint operation, conducted by the military, police and counter-terrorism units, freed victims held captive in the dense forests of the Kainji Lake national park in the north-central region. Continue reading...

Washington-Rabat ties under scrutiny as questions swirl over what led to deadly influx into tiny Spanish territory The cosy relationship between Washington and Rabat has long been flaunted by both sides, from Morocco’s announcement this year that it would be the first African state to join Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to the congratulatory message recently sent by Trump to mark King Mohammed VI’s 27 years in power. The latest example landed this week. As Spain grappled with the aftermath of the sudden influx – and swift return – of more than 70,000 people into Ceuta, Morocco’s monarch confirmed he had named a $1bn highway flanking the disputed territory of Western Sahara after Trump. Continue reading...

The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf. Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo. Continue reading...

While precise data is classified, publicly available information suggests the US has used up many difficult-to-manufacture weapons.

Fifa's backing of president Gianni Infantino at a meeting on Wednesday "changes nothing", says European governing body Uefa.

Seoul's lunar orbiter captured images of the Moon before and after part of SpaceX's rocket hit its surface on Wednesday.

The Spanish territory's mayor-president also says 100 deaths occurred as a result of 78,000 migrants crossing from neighbouring Morocco.

Yinon Levy is charged with reckless manslaughter over the July 2025 shooting of Odeh Hathaleen.

Ukraine's president says the strikes aim to limit revenues Russia "used to finance" its war.

At a time of increased conflict between elephants and humans, as elephant habitats are converted to intensive agriculture, the Hurulu Eco Park is a place where the animals can graze unimpeded.

The United Nations has set a goal for near universal HIV diagnosis and treatment for all by 2030. No country in Asia has hit the mark — until this year.

FIFA said Wednesday it had apologized for errors made over Gianni Infantino's failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and that senior staff in attendance at a crisis meeting in Morocco "reaffirmed their full support" for his presidency.

Regional police and prosecutors said an airport employee discovered a drone near the airport's south runway with "an unknown explosive device," and the object was examined by police

Hasina's speech marked the second anniversary of her ouster. She fled Bangladesh by helicopter following nearly two months of protests in 2024 that left nearly 1,400 people dead, according to the United Nations.

Another overnight attack killed at least 17 people in and around Kyiv. The strikes come as Ukraine faces a growing shortage of the interceptor missiles used to defend the capital.

Description This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s three SkyFall Mars helicopters collecting data while flying over the surface of the Red Planet.  The green frequency waves emanating from the helicopters’ large antennas depict collection of subsurface radar data. The red beams depict collect near-infrared imagery data from regolith (crushed rock and dust) and other surface features. […]

Description SkyFall ground-penetrating radar engineer Maya Román connects a coaxial cable to a test antenna in the Environmental Test Lab’s electromagnetic interference testing chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.  The antenna was pointed up during test to minimize reflections and interferences with the antenna pattern during the measurement. Equipped with four instruments each, the […]

As NASA sets its sights on long-term exploration of the Moon and Mars, the agency is increasing the cadence of its Artemis missions. Helping bring these plans to fruition is Tom Percy, manager of systems engineering and integration for NASA’s Human Landing System Program. Percy serves as a focal point in working with providers SpaceX […]

Neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor discusses efforts to understand how skin contact can be painful or pleasurable, and what touch-obsessed naked mole rats might teach us about human social behavior. The post How Does Touch Lead To Pain Or Pleasure? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

New research is helping biologists understand how an overlooked aspect of coral physiology may affect their fate under climate change. The post Corals Spin Tiny Vortices to Get Oxygen, but Not if It’s Too Hot first appeared on Quanta Magazine

AI’s greatest mathematical successes have come from answers to problems posed by a mid-20th century iconoclast. By examining what makes the Erdős problems unique, mathematicians are trying to understand how AI might change the rest of math. The post Why the Legendary Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The idea that artificial intelligence can “reason” is more intuitive than ever. But intuitions can be wrong, and the science is far from settled. The post Is AI Reasoning Right for the Wrong Reasons? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

New calculations seem to have put a 25-year-old particle physics puzzle to rest. But they’ve also created a clash with other experimental results. The post Physicists Solve a Big Quantum Mystery. Now, Old Results Don’t Add Up. first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A sweet tooth for sugars from fruits and honey may have helped fuel brain growth in our primate cousins and early human ancestors, a new study suggests.

Within minutes of impact, debris began heating Earth’s atmosphere. Fine dust trapped that heat, potentially killing the dinosaurs quickly.

Scientists have finally seen a long-predicted motion on the sun, and it may help explain explosive solar activity.

Researchers injected mice with a protein derived from frogs to save them from the same kind of shellfish poisoning that affects people.

Studies suggest AI can weaken learning when it replaces effort, but tools that guide rather than answer may help people keep their skills.

An emperor penguin colony in Antarctica saw a massive decline in chicks in 2025. The contours of a nearby grounded iceberg may have been the cause.

A compound made only by breeding queens keeps naked mole-rat colonies infertile and free of conflict.

Female pied flycatchers can tell whether a male is paired or not based on song differences. Mated males sing shorter songs and repeat syllables less.

Boreal forests and peatlands are shaped by hydrological changes caused by both human activity and natural processes. In a recent study carried out in the Evo area in southern Finland, researchers examined how forestry drainage and beaver-induced flooding have transformed the landscape over the past 60 years. They combined historical maps, aerial imagery from different decades, current geospatial data and long-term field observations.

Around 15 years ago, I created a Facebook page for my cat, Sandi. Friends thought it was weird. Today, social media accounts for cats attract millions of followers, cats travel in backpacks and strollers, and surveys consistently show that the overwhelming majority of owners regard their pets as family.

Iguanodontians are a diverse group of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous and had a worldwide distribution. Intercontinental dispersal events between Asia, North America and Europe played a key role in their diversification across Laurasia. Fossils discovered in Japan provide valuable insights into the evolution and biogeography of iguanodontians.

Investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a platform for systematically discovering molecular glues that could become protein degradation drug candidates. The platform could help drug developers dramatically expand the range of disease-related proteins that can be therapeutically targeted for elimination via protein degradation.

A new study led by a Duke University scientist overturns a long-held idea about how primates, including humans, came to have such large and sophisticated brains. The research finds that the dramatic expansion of the primate neocortex was driven largely by vision, not by the disproportionate growth of the frontal lobe often associated with higher reasoning.

Ants make up one of the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, with many species boasting remarkable physical abilities and social behaviors, and an overall species richness that far exceeds that of mammals. Various types of ants can carry up to one hundred times their weight or forage hundreds of meters from their nest, the equivalent of a human carrying thousands of kilograms and walking hundreds of kilometers. These feats have inspired researchers to study not only the anatomy that makes them possible but also how ants use these capabilities to forage and explore.

Fruit, honey and other naturally sweet foods may have helped fuel the evolution of the human brain, according to new research from the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow.

The cell membrane is a fundamental biological structure. These lipid layers surround and organize every cell, controlling everything from signaling to transport. But for membranes to function properly, their physicochemical properties must sit within a narrow range: for instance, not too rigid or too fluid.

Advanced chromatography resins and data-driven strategies are redefining monoclonal-antibody purification in modern biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The post Renewed Importance of CEX in Monoclonal-Antibody Purification appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

The results of a preclinical study demonstrated that phosphorylated tau enters mitochondria and initiates a vicious cycle of pathological events that trigger reverse electron transport. The post Tau Protein Linked to Mitochondrial Reverse Electron Transport in Preclinical Models appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

DNA Script says the company is contributing its EDS technology and acting as a technical solution integrator for the project, while adapting its solution to incorporate GE HealthCare’s proprietary DNA scaling technology. The post DNA Script Wins ARPA-H Award to Advance DNA Manufacturing appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

COVID-19 can reactivate dormant viruses, including Epstein-Barr and cytomegalovirus, according to a large NIH-funded study. Researchers also linked Anelloviridae reactivation to long COVID, revealing potential targets for future diagnostics and treatments. The post COVID-19 Reactivates Dormant Viruses, Offering New Clues to Long COVID appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

Researchers working with mice identified an immune pathway that prevents what is normally a harmless fungus, Candida albicans , from developing into a fatal infection. The post Immune Pathway Identified That Prevents C. albicans Infection from Becoming Deadly appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

Frank Fazio discusses the workforce needs of bioprocessing, the challenges of attracting and retaining talent, and how partnerships with schools, colleges, and universities are helping St. Jude build a sustainable talent pipeline for the future. The post Building a Bioprocessing Workforce Through Partnerships appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

Selecting the best AI models for each step of a workflow while properly preparing structured and unstructured enterprise data enables a more effective systems engineering approach for biomanufacturing. The post AI “Council of Models” Improves Workflows and Outcomes appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

An innovative rotating drum bioreactor designed to maximize the availability of dissolved oxygen throughout the entire fermentation cycle could significantly increase mAb production yields. The post New Bioreactor Design Could Boost mAb Yields appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News .

With a looming surgery, even the worst parts of a climbing trip felt sweet. The post Everything I Loved About a Hilariously Unsuccessful Climbing Trip appeared first on Climbing .

A male Austrian commentator sparked backlash after suggesting that female climbers are unmotivated to train in the gym. He later characterized his remarks as a miscommunication in his non-native language. The post World Climbing Commentator Apologizes for Sexist Comments on Europe Youth Series Livestream appeared first on Climbing .

In May, Aleksandra Taistra free soloed one of the hardest known routes by a woman. But just because she loves climbing ropeless, doesn’t mean she recommends it. The post Polish Climber Pulls Off One of the Hardest Female Free Solos in History appeared first on Climbing .

Wood hangboards are the best: versatile, smooth, and they force you to use pure finger strength—which, after all, is the point. The post Weak Fingers? Check Out Our Favorite Hangboards, Field-Tested. appeared first on Climbing .

Submit your anchor and get it analyzed The post Let’s See That Anchor appeared first on Climbing .

MOTIVATION: Linear reference genomes are ubiquitously used in genomics research, despite known biases associated with their use. In recent years, there has been a shift towards graph-based reference genomes to address some of these biases, which has required development of new algorithms and file formats. This has created a necessity for new tools capable of utilizing these formats and performing operations similar to those carried out by traditional methods. RESULTS: In this paper we present "gaftools," a multi-purpose tool that introduces several utilities for processing graph alignments in GAF format. gaftools enables users to index and sort alignments, with graph ordering serving as a necessary step for the sorting process. Additionally, it allows users to view subsets of alignments and perform realignment using the wavefront alignment algorithm, among other features. Many of these functionalities are inspired by SAMtools, which provides similar operations for linear genomes, while gaftools adapts and extends them for pangenomes. AVAILABILITY: gaftools is available under MIT license at https://github.com/marschall-lab/gaftools.

🤖 pangenome methodology is relevant to the researcher's focus on wildlife species.

Abstract Climate change is causing rapid increases in temperature which drives genomic changes tied to adaptation. However, predicting the outcomes of climate change presents challenges as the anticipated conditions have yet to be experienced by natural populations. Modelling and lab experiments suggest that natural populations will experience shifts in life history, physiology, phenology, and ecology, but the underlying genomic mechanisms involved are unknown. However, some contemporary natural populations experience habitat warming through geothermal activity and can provide valuable insights into evolutionary responses. Geothermally warmed habitats should impose strong selection on ectotherms compared to ambient habitats as they increase metabolic demands, alter developmental processes, and offer novel ecological conditions. We leveraged Icelandic threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from populations that have adaptively diverged along a geothermal/ambient habitat axis. We obtained 173,485 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across four independent instances of population divergence using whole genome sequencing. While the majority of genomic differentiation between geothermal/ambient ecotypes was non-parallel, the MAPK signalling pathway appeared across all ecotype pairs. We also identified a putative inversion located on chromosome XXI which appears to drive parallel genomic differentiation between geothermal and ambient ecotypes. Candidate genes within the putative inversion correspond to metabolic adaptations, including regulation of appetite and fat content. Appetite level showed strong heritable divergence between ecotypes, while the rate of weight loss during starvation and fat levels differed between ecotypes. Overall, both polygenic adaptation and parallel structural variation appeared to be key genomic mechanisms for adaptation to geothermally warmed environments. While allelic divergence was largely unique across populations, it resulted in similar functional phenotypic outcomes. Thus, structural and allelic variation both operate to facilitate adaptation to warming environments. Therefore, while management from a genomic perspective will play a role in mitigating the effects of climate change, this study suggests that consideration of functional molecular pathways will be key to conservation but with precise changes being difficult to predict due to the highly polygenic nature of thermal adaptation.

🤖 study on adaptation to geothermal habitats may inform genomic approaches for wildlife species research

) in Guam represents a notable example of this phenomenon, having been introduced with only a handful of individuals. We show that the population endured an extreme bottleneck, with roughly half of the genome exhibiting runs of homozygosity, comparable to species of conservation concern. Despite this, we uncovered extensive diversity in the form of nearly 19,000 genomic structural variants, which affect almost eight times more of the genome than single-nucleotide variants and provide material for "rescuing" the population from inbreeding-driven declines. Structural variant density was highest in gene promoters, where recombination and DNA repair often occur, providing a mechanism for rapid evolution of gene-linked diversity. This diversity is enriched in genes vital for adaptive immunity and olfaction, suggesting genomic diversity in key chromosomal regions can rescue populations from inbreeding. This work has critical implications for invasion biology and conservation genetics practitioners.

🤖 involves genomic structural variation, a key area of research in genomics for wildlife species.

Neurospora crassa is a widely distributed ascomycete with high genetic diversity, yet reliance on limited reference genomes has hindered a comprehensive understanding of its genetic landscape. To address this limitation, we integrated the functional annotation of the FGSC2225 genome with a comprehensive comparative genomic analysis of N. crassa strains. FGSC2225 gene and transposable element (TE) proportions mirrored those of FGSC2489, though TE levels were significantly higher than those in sister species Sordaria macrospora. Phylogenetic analysis resolved the N. crassa population into two primary lineages: Clade A (including FGSC2489 and FGSC2225) and Clade B (including FGSC4830), with the former exhibiting larger genome sizes. Leveraging de novo assemblies of 72 high-quality draft genomes, we constructed a comprehensive pangenome to investigate the molecular evolution of various gene families. For example, systematic phylogenetic analysis of the HET-domain-containing gene family and three stress-related families—heat shock transcription factor, basic leucine zipper, and Cytochrome P450—demonstrated varying degrees of conservation and presence/absence variation across the lineages. Addressing the limitations of current genomic resources, this work provides a pangenomic framework to detect rapid adaptive evolution in filamentous fungi. This methodology serves as a robust template for identifying transcription factors, effectors, and structural variations critical to stress response and virulence in diverse fungi.

🤖 pangenome methodology could be adapted for wildlife species analysis

The use of DNA analysis to match individual biological samples is central to many wildlife diagnostic applications and is particularly valuable in illegal wildlife trade investigations. However, although thousands of wildlife and plant species are affected by illegal trade, DNA profiling systems for individual identification exist for only a small number of taxa. This is primarily due to the need for extensive population reference data to enable conclusive interpretation of DNA profile matches, a key requirement in diagnostic contexts. Here, we introduce a novel approach that does not require population reference data to interpret an individual profile match and can be used with any set of genetic markers on a case-by-case basis. This approach, called 'heterozygote analysis for reference-free probability assessment' (HARP), is based on ultra-conservative match probability estimates using only heterozygote genotypes and assuming both alleles have a frequency of 0.5 in the population. HARP effectively eliminates the need for population reference data and standard marker panels and is therefore completely adaptable to any novel individual identification scenario. We demonstrate HARP using three case studies spanning a range of species and diagnostic scenarios.

🤖 involves individual sample matching and DNA profiling techniques relevant to wildlife diagnostics

BACKGROUND: As an endemic bamboo and a critical dietary staple for the endangered giant panda, Fargesia angustissima T. P. Yi is integral to the ecological stability of Western Sichuan's forest ecosystems. Nevertheless, the absence of a complete mitogenome has constrained investigations into its complex genomic architecture, evolutionary history, and the genetic basis underlying the montane adaptation. RESULTS: Using a hybrid sequencing strategy (BGI short reads and PacBio HiFi long reads), we de novo assembled and characterized the bipartite mitogenome of F. angustissima (429,279 bp, 44.18% GC content). The mitogenome encodes a conserved repertoire of 37 unique protein-coding genes (PCGs), exhibiting a pronounced A/U-ending codon bias driven by directional mutation pressure. Long-read mapping validated that a 7,368 bp palindromic repeat (R1) maintained major bipartite isomers (45.45% recombinant frequency), while 39 tetrameric Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) and 298 dispersed repeat pairs mediate localized structural variations. To counteract sequence-level mutational drift, 488 C-to-U RNA-editing sites impose strict functional stringency. These modifications predominantly convert hydrophilic Ser/Pro to hydrophobic Leu (42.0%) to ensure the proper membrane integration of respiratory complexes, while also generating obligate stop codons in atp6, atp9, and ccmFC. Moreover, we identified 27 plastid-derived sequences (MTPTs) spanning 20.151 kb, demonstrating an asymmetric intracellular DNA migration pattern; the plastid Large Single Copy (LSC) region (e.g., MTPT27) serves as an evolutionary hotspot for sequence transfer, contrasting with the structural conservatism of the Inverted Repeat (IR) regions (MTPT1, MTPT11, and MTPT12). Despite high sequence identity (> 99.8%) across the Bambusoideae, synteny analyses revealed extensive structural rearrangements. Subsequent phylogenetic reconstruction uncovered significant inter-organellar topological conflicts, providing genomic evidence for historical reticulate evolution and incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) during the rapid diversification of the Fargesia genus. CONCLUSIONS: The F. angustissima mitogenome exemplifies a paradigm of structural plasticity, post-transcriptional constraint, and phylogenetic discordance. By overcoming the low nucleotide diversity barrier inherent to temperate bamboos, a structurally and functionally derived marker framework was established. The genomic reference and the associated candidate loci provide a molecular blueprint for non-destructive population genetics and data-driven conservation within giant panda habitats.

🤖 Mitogenome analysis could inform conservation efforts for endangered species like the giant panda.

Abstract Genomic health estimates help inform conservation and management decisions, with genetic load and runs-of-homozygosity (ROH) being two key metrics. White-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) and mule deer ( O. hemionus ) are found throughout North America, with some populations declining or of conversation concern. Using genome-wide data from samples across their range, we provide the first estimate of genetic load in mule deer, and revisit ROH estimates using model-based approaches. These updated estimates of ROH notably showed elevated inbreeding in the Key deer, consistent with current conservation designations. We also detected a relatively high number loss-of function mutations in mule deer that we attributed to historical bottlenecks. We also observed an increased overall genetic load in O. hemionus from the Pacific Northwest.

🤖 study of genetic load and runs-of-homozygosity in a wildlife species is relevant to the researcher's focus on pangenome methodology for non-model organisms.