Indiana University

Different conditions on different planets could have led life down paths that are completely … well, alien. To demonstrate, a NASA-funded study has successfully created a new synthetic genetic system that’s a viable alternative to DNA, made with twice as many “ingredients.”

Forget steel, forget diamond and even forget graphene – “nuclear pasta” may be the strongest material in the universe. This strange substance is formed in the intense pressures inside neutron stars, and researchers have now run computer simulations to test just how strong it is.

It’s an unfortunate truth that weapons and explosives in public places are an increasing problem. But many screening technologies are bulky and expensive, and require staff to operate. Now a new study has found a way to tap into a type of signal that’s already ubiquitous in public places – Wi-Fi.

If scientists can see how bacteria evolves, they might be able to intervene to prevent drug resistance. Now researchers at Indiana University have produced the first direct images of bacteria extending “harpoons” to snare and absorb bits of DNA.

​When it comes to determining a person's eye, hair and skin color based on a DNA sample, scientists typically need to compare that evidence sample to an existing reference sample. That's reportedly no longer the case, however, if they're using the new HIrisPlex-S DNA test system.

A new experiment from Indiana University has shown how natural selection can create complex traits out of existing genetic “building blocks”, and to illustrate this the team used a relatively simple genetic tool to grow a functional third eye on the forehead of beetles.

The humble leaf, which collects sunlight and uses that energy to turn carbon dioxide into fuel for the plant, has inspired scientists. Researchers have developed a molecule that uses sunlight to convert the problematic carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which can then be stored as a fuel source.

As anyone familiar with Thor's hammer Mjolnir knows, sometimes the line between tool and weapon can be mighty thin. Now, new research provides evidence that rocks found at an archeological site 30 years ago thought to be tools were more likely projectiles.

Whereas the Milky Way contains anywhere from 100 to 400 billion stars, our home planet may host as many as one trillion species – the vast majority of which are microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. What's more amazing is that we've discovered only a thousandth of a percent of them all.

It had to happen sooner or later; robots have replaced infants... at least, as subjects in psychological research being conducted at Indiana University. The robots are being used to study how infants learn and have revealed that posture and body position are important factors in early learning.

Indiana University biologists claim to have found a quicker, cheaper, cleaner way to increase production in bioethanol-producing microbes using nitrogen gas. This could replace chemical fertilizers and make the cost of cellulose ethanol competitive with that of corn ethanol and gasoline.

By molecularly combining three hormones to form a new peptide, researchers have effectively cured obesity and adult-onset diabetes in rodents, with human trials of the molecule now planned.