Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known for their religious associations and medicinal properties, were discovered beneath a plaza floor where a ballcourt was built.

University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have constructed a robot that uses machine learning to fully automate a complicated microinjection process used in genetic research. 

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering co-led a new study by an international team that will improve the detection of gravitational waves—ripples in space and time. 

Computer vision can be a valuable tool for anyone tasked with analyzing hours of footage because it can speed up the process of identifying individuals. For example, law enforcement may use it to perform a search for individuals with a simple query, such as “Locate anyone wearing a red scarf over the past 48 hours.”

With video surveillance becoming more and more ubiquitous, Assistant Professor Yogesh Rawat, a researcher at the UCF Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV), is working to address privacy issues with advanced software installed on video cameras. His work is supported by $200,000 in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation (NSF ART) program.

A $20 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will support the establishment and operation of the National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences (NCEMS) at Penn State. The center will enable research that uses existing, publicly available data to glean new insights about how complex biological systems, such as cells, emerge from simpler molecules. Findings from the research could eventually inform the development of disease treatments and other applications such as minimizing the negative effects of aging.

How do birds fly in a coordinated and seemingly effortless fashion? Part of the answer lies in precise, and previously unknown, aerodynamic interactions, reports a team of mathematicians in a newly published study. Its breakthrough broadens our understanding of wildlife, including fish, who move in schools, and could have applications in transportation and energy.

Life can be tough for young red squirrels living in the Canada's Yukon territory, where frigid winters, food scarcity and predators threaten their long-term survival. Scientists want to know what factors might protect young squirrels, especially as their environment becomes more impacted by climate change. 

MSU researchers have made a breakthrough for evolutionary biology of the Solanaceae family, which includes peppers, potatoes and petunias.