EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA—If this is the biology laboratory of the future, it doesn’t look so different from today’s. Scientists in white lab coats walk by with boxes of frozen tubes. The chemicals on the shelves—bottles of pure alcohol, bins of sugar, protein, and salts—are standard issue for growing microbes and manipulating their genes. You don’t even notice the robots until you hear them: They sound like crickets singing to each other amid the low roar of fans.The robots work for Zymergen, a biotechnology company that moved into this former electronics factory on the eastern shore of...…EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA—If this is the biology laboratory of the future, it doesn’t look so different from today’s. Scientists in white lab coats walk by with boxes of frozen tubes. The chemicals on the shelves—bottles of pure alcohol, bins of sugar, protein, and salts—are standard issue for growing microbes and manipulating their genes. You don’t even notice the robots until you hear them: They sound like crickets singing to each other amid the low roar of fans.The robots work for Zymergen, a biotechnology company that moved into this former electronics factory on the eastern shore of...WW…

You are currently viewing the abstract.AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Existing users log in.Log in via OpenAthens.Log in with your institution via Shibboleth.Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.Most animal species sleep, from invertebrates to primates. However, neuroscientists have until now only...…You are currently viewing the abstract.AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Existing users log in.Log in via OpenAthens.Log in with your institution via Shibboleth.Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.Most animal species sleep, from invertebrates to primates. However, neuroscientists have until now only...WW…

When 109-year-old Jessie Gallan was asked about the secret to her long life, she replied “staying away from men.” Other people older than 100 have extolled the virtues of everything from crossword puzzles to tap dancing. One thing they don’t usually mention: chromosomes. Yet, across the animal kingdom, individuals with identical sex chromosomes—including women with double Xs—live nearly 18% longer than their counterparts with mismatched chromosomes, a new study reveals.In most animals, sex chromosomes help determine whether an individual develops as a male or female. In mammals, females...…When 109-year-old Jessie Gallan was asked about the secret to her long life, she replied “staying away from men.” Other people older than 100 have extolled the virtues of everything from crossword puzzles to tap dancing. One thing they don’t usually mention: chromosomes. Yet, across the animal kingdom, individuals with identical sex chromosomes—including women with double Xs—live nearly 18% longer than their counterparts with mismatched chromosomes, a new study reveals.In most animals, sex chromosomes help determine whether an individual develops as a male or female. In mammals, females...WW…

Human health is affected by indoor air quality. One distinctive aspect of the indoor environment is its very large surface area that acts as a poorly characterized sink and source of gas-phase chemicals. In this work, air-surface interactions of 19 common indoor air contaminants with diverse properties and sources were monitored in a house using fast-response, on-line mass spectrometric and spectroscopic methods. Enhanced-ventilation experiments demonstrate that most of the contaminants reside in the surface reservoirs and not, as expected, in the gas phase. They participate in rapid...…Human health is affected by indoor air quality. One distinctive aspect of the indoor environment is its very large surface area that acts as a poorly characterized sink and source of gas-phase chemicals. In this work, air-surface interactions of 19 common indoor air contaminants with diverse properties and sources were monitored in a house using fast-response, on-line mass spectrometric and spectroscopic methods. Enhanced-ventilation experiments demonstrate that most of the contaminants reside in the surface reservoirs and not, as expected, in the gas phase. They participate in rapid...WW…

Humans excel at mental imagery, and we can transfer those images across senses. For example, an object out of view, but for which we have a mental image, can still be recognized by touch. Such cross-modal recognition is highly adaptive and has been recently identified in other mammals, but whether it is widespread has been debated. Solvi et al. tested for this behavior in bumble bees, which are increasingly recognized as having some relatively advanced cognitive skills (see the Perspective by von der Emde and Burt de Perera). They found that the bees could identify objects by shape in the...…Humans excel at mental imagery, and we can transfer those images across senses. For example, an object out of view, but for which we have a mental image, can still be recognized by touch. Such cross-modal recognition is highly adaptive and has been recently identified in other mammals, but whether it is widespread has been debated. Solvi et al. tested for this behavior in bumble bees, which are increasingly recognized as having some relatively advanced cognitive skills (see the Perspective by von der Emde and Burt de Perera). They found that the bees could identify objects by shape in the...WW…

Rough sleep is bad for your mind—and your heart. It can increase the risk of clogged arteries, which can lead to stroke or heart attacks. But how these two things are connected has been a mystery. Now, a study in mice reveals a link, based on signals the brain sends to bone marrow. If the story holds true in humans, the mechanism could help explain the connection between sleep and other conditions, from obesity to cancer.  “Not everyone who is sleep-deprived develops cardiovascular disease,” says Namni Goel, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of...…Rough sleep is bad for your mind—and your heart. It can increase the risk of clogged arteries, which can lead to stroke or heart attacks. But how these two things are connected has been a mystery. Now, a study in mice reveals a link, based on signals the brain sends to bone marrow. If the story holds true in humans, the mechanism could help explain the connection between sleep and other conditions, from obesity to cancer.  “Not everyone who is sleep-deprived develops cardiovascular disease,” says Namni Goel, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of...WW…

Physicists in China have forged a mysterious quantum connection between particles, called entanglement, over dozens of kilometers of standard optical fiber, setting a new record. The advance marks a long step toward a fully quantum mechanical internet—although such a network is still years away.The achievement springs not from one particular breakthrough, but from the careful implementation of multiple techniques, says David Awschalom, a physicist at the University of Chicago. “I’m very impressed that they’ve integrated these various technologies into a full system,” he says. “It’s a...…Physicists in China have forged a mysterious quantum connection between particles, called entanglement, over dozens of kilometers of standard optical fiber, setting a new record. The advance marks a long step toward a fully quantum mechanical internet—although such a network is still years away.The achievement springs not from one particular breakthrough, but from the careful implementation of multiple techniques, says David Awschalom, a physicist at the University of Chicago. “I’m very impressed that they’ve integrated these various technologies into a full system,” he says. “It’s a...WW…

European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a critically endangered species requiring CITES permits for international trade. Despite the fact that no imports to Hong Kong were declared within the last 2 years, our study found that this species is still commonly sold in major supermarket chains across Hong Kong. In a COI barcoding survey of 49 retail vendors encompassing 13 brands, 9 of 13 carried A. anguilla, and 45% of all eel products available at retail outlets (n = 49) were unambiguously identified as A. anguilla. Considering the visual similarity of eel species and disproportionate amount of...…European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a critically endangered species requiring CITES permits for international trade. Despite the fact that no imports to Hong Kong were declared within the last 2 years, our study found that this species is still commonly sold in major supermarket chains across Hong Kong. In a COI barcoding survey of 49 retail vendors encompassing 13 brands, 9 of 13 carried A. anguilla, and 45% of all eel products available at retail outlets (n = 49) were unambiguously identified as A. anguilla. Considering the visual similarity of eel species and disproportionate amount of...WW…

Coronaviruses (CoVs) traffic frequently between species resulting in novel disease outbreaks, most recently exemplified by the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Herein, we show that the ribonucleoside analog β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC, EIDD-1931) has broad spectrum antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and related zoonotic group 2b or 2c Bat-CoVs, as well as increased potency against a coronavirus bearing resistance mutations to the nucleoside analog inhibitor remdesivir. In mice infected with SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV, both prophylactic and...…Coronaviruses (CoVs) traffic frequently between species resulting in novel disease outbreaks, most recently exemplified by the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Herein, we show that the ribonucleoside analog β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC, EIDD-1931) has broad spectrum antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and related zoonotic group 2b or 2c Bat-CoVs, as well as increased potency against a coronavirus bearing resistance mutations to the nucleoside analog inhibitor remdesivir. In mice infected with SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV, both prophylactic and...WW…

Artificial control of animal locomotion has the potential to simultaneously address longstanding challenges to actuation, control, and power requirements in soft robotics. Robotic manipulation of locomotion can also address previously inaccessible questions about organismal biology otherwise limited to observations of naturally occurring behaviors. Here, we present a biohybrid robot that uses onboard microelectronics to induce swimming in live jellyfish. Measurements demonstrate that propulsion can be substantially enhanced by driving body contractions at an optimal frequency range faster...…Artificial control of animal locomotion has the potential to simultaneously address longstanding challenges to actuation, control, and power requirements in soft robotics. Robotic manipulation of locomotion can also address previously inaccessible questions about organismal biology otherwise limited to observations of naturally occurring behaviors. Here, we present a biohybrid robot that uses onboard microelectronics to induce swimming in live jellyfish. Measurements demonstrate that propulsion can be substantially enhanced by driving body contractions at an optimal frequency range faster...WW…