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Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impressive array of tricks to ensure their dietary needs are met.

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

How plant-eaters snag their essential amino acids

Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impres...

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How the cavefish lost its eyes — again and again 👀 Although eye development commences in cavefish embryos, the process ultimately stalls. Early on, there are clear differences in the activity patterns of genes (top image) involved in eye development. As a result, in cavefish embryos, the optic vesicle from which the eye develops is always smaller. Some 24 hours into development, the cells in the eye lens and the optic cup that usually becomes the rest of the eye start to die. (🧵 1/2)

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech. ✍️ Betsy Mason

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

Do birds have language? It depends on how you define it.

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech

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A better understanding of human smell is emerging as scientists interrogate its fundamental elements: the odor molecules that enter your nose and the individual neurons that translate them into perception in your brain 🧠 ✍️ Yasemin Saplakoglu, @npub10v34...3j5v

Quanta Magazine

How Smell Guides Our Inner World | Quanta Magazine

A better understanding of human smell is emerging as scientists interrogate its fundamental elements: the odor molecules that enter your nose and t...

#ScienceMastodon

A rift in thinking about who should control powerful new technologies sent the brothers on diverging paths. For one, the story ended with a mission to bring science to the public.

Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews

The atomic bomb, exile and a test of brotherly bonds: Robert and Frank Oppenheimer

A rift in thinking about who should control powerful new technologies sent the brothers on diverging paths. For one, the story ended with a mission...

#KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon

👀 On our radar: $1,000-a-day cancer drug costs 25 cents to make 💬 “That steep tab has put the drug’s lifesaving potential out of reach for some cancer patients, who have been forced into debt or simply stopped taking the drug. The price also helps fuel our ballooning insurance premiums.” ✍️ David Armstrong, @npub1qmg7...s6k5 🔗

ProPublica

The Price of Remission: This Cancer Drug Saves Lives — but Costs a Fortune. I Wanted to Know Why.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I set out to understand why a single pill of Revlimid cost the same as a new iPhone. I’ve covered high drug pri...