New discoveries in synthetic DNA could lead to modified genes and new biofuels
Contrary to naturally occurring DNA, synthetic DNA could allow scientists to engineer fresh genes or enhance existing ones.
top of page
The Brighter Side of News features good news, compassionate news and inspirational news from around the world
Sign up for the Brighter Side of News newsletter
JJ Shavit
- 2 days ago
NASA scientists identify the origins of life on Earth
The most well-known hypothesis on the origins of life suggests that life might have begun in a warm little pond containing organic molecules
JJ Shavit
- May 15
Groundbreaking study identifies how humans lost their body hair
Why humans have significantly less body hair than most other mammals has long remained a mystery. New genetic study identifies why.
JJ Shavit
- May 12
Scientists uncover the origin of smallpox
Smallpox has been one of the deadliest diseases in human history, responsible for killing at least 300 million people in the 20th century.
JJ Shavit
- Mar 14
First ever study identifies how humans lost their body hair
Humans appear to have the genes for a full coat of body hair, but evolution has disabled them, scientists at University of Utah Health.
JJ Shavit
- Mar 10
Scientists finally answer the question of how life on Earth began
Chemical evolution was first proposed in the 1920s as the idea that life first originated with the formation of macromolecules.
JJ Shavit
- Feb 11
Scientists answer the fundamental question of how life on Earth began
Chemical evolution was first proposed in the 1920s as the idea that life first originated with the formation of macromolecules.
JJ Shavit
- Feb 10
First-ever study identifies how and why humans lost their body hair
Orangutans, mice, and horses are covered with it, but humans aren’t. Why do we have significantly less body hair than most other mammals?
JJ Shavit
- Jan 28
Major discovery about mammalian brains surprises researchers
In a new breakthrough to understand more about the mammalian brain, University of Copenhagen researchers have made an incredible discovery.
JJ Shavit
- Jan 26
Breakthrough fossil study reveals the origin of living amphibians
The find also fills a gap of at least 87 million years in the known historical fossil record of the amphibian-like creature.
JJ Shavit
- Jan 22
Just one degree of temperature change can change the life cycle of species
The climate affects the life cycle of species, the number of individuals of a species, the overall number of species and the composition.
JJ Shavit
- Jan 17
Researchers discover where all modern mammals originated from
For almost 200 years it has been believed that the placental mammals, and the related marsupials, had originated in the northern hemisphere
JJ Shavit
- Jan 11
Scientists finally answer the fundamental question of how life on Earth began
The missing link isn’t a not-yet-discovered fossil, after all. It’s a tiny, self-replicating globule called a coacervate droplet.
JJ Shavit
- Jan 11
First of its kind study identifies how humans lost their body hair
Humans appear to have the genes for a full coat of body hair, but evolution has disabled them, scientists at University of Utah report.
JJ Shavit
- Jan 8
New discovery substantially rewrites history of life on Earth
Diverse microbial life existed on Earth at least 3.75 billion years ago, suggests a new study that challenges the view of when life began.
JJ Shavit
- Dec 30, 2022
The incredible reason why T Rex's arms are so short
One question asked frequently by undergraduates to Kevin Padian stuck with him: Why are the arms of Tyrannosaurus rex so ridiculously short.
JJ Shavit
- Dec 28, 2022
Novel evolutionary theory says genetic mutations aren't always random
Researchers have brought the first evidence of nonrandom mutation in human genes, challenging a core assumption at the heart of evolution.
JJ Shavit
- Dec 22, 2022
Humans continue to evolve with the emergence of 155 new genes
Modern humans evolutionarily split from our chimpanzee ancestors nearly 7 million years ago, yet we are continuing to evolve.
JJ Shavit
- Dec 19, 2022
Major discovery identifies the surprising reason dinosaurs rose to prominence
Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the rise of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.
JJ Shavit
- Dec 18, 2022
All modern mammals originated from Australia, researchers find
Australia, home to the most unusual animal species on the planet, can now lay claim to being the wellspring of modern mammal evolution.
bottom of page