Researchers have long known that temperature can determine whether some reptiles develop as male or female, but this process is not well understood in lizards and snakes. A new study in leopard geckos offers the first detailed look at how this works in a squamate reptile. The researchers found that differences between males and females begin at the genetic level before any physical changes appear and identified the key developmental window when temperature decides sex.

Researchers studied wild Northern cardinals to see how everyday challenges shape the gut microbiome. Even brief disruptions, like short handling or rival interactions, triggered microbial changes linked to stress hormones, body condition and beak coloration. Birds with the largest microbial shifts also showed pronounced physiological and visual stress responses, highlighting the gut microbiome as a sensitive indicator of health. The study reveals how subtle, routine stressors influence internal biology, offering new insights into how wild animals maintain resilience and cope with environmental pressures.

Researchers discovered that a freshwater alga captures low-energy far-red light by precisely arranging ordinary chlorophyll molecules, rather than inventing new pigments. The finding reveals a new structural strategy for photosynthesis in low-light environments and could inform future bioenergy and protein design.

Gut dysbiosis caused by a high-fat diet can allow bacteria to move from the gut to the brain in mice, according to a new study by David Weiss and Arash Grakoui from Emory University, U.S., and colleagues published March 12^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Scientists have identified ~2.3 million conserved non-coding DNA sequences across 284 plant species from 72 plant families using a new gene-centric alignment approach, revealing ancient regulatory elements that control gene activity across plant evolution.