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Rare genetic diseases can now be detected in patients, and tumor-specific mutations identified — a milestone made possible by DNA sequencing, which transformed biomedical research decades ago. In recent years, the introduction of new sequencing technologies (next-generation sequencing) has driven a wave of breakthroughs. During 2020 and 2021, for instance, these methods enabled the rapid…

Mammals vs. birds: Of the 1,176 species analyzed, female mammals lived an average of 13 percent longer than males. In contrast, among birds, males lived about five percent longer than females. Mating strategies matter: In species where competition for mates is intense — as is true for most mammals — males tend to die younger….

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made the first direct measurements of both the chemical composition and physical conditions of a possible moon-forming disk surrounding a massive exoplanet. The carbon-rich disk encircles the planet known as CT Cha b, located about 625 light-years from Earth. While no moons were detected in the Webb data, the…

A team led by Rice University physicist Frank Geurts has achieved a major milestone in particle physics by measuring the temperature of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at different stages of its evolution. This plasma is a form of matter thought to have filled the universe only millionths of a second after the big bang, the event…

Detecting dark matter, the invisible substance thought to keep galaxies intact, remains one of the most enduring mysteries in physics. Although it cannot be directly observed or touched, researchers suspect that dark matter leaves behind faint traces. These subtle signals might be detectable using advanced quantum technologies that can sense extremely small disturbances. A team…