A team of scientists have developed ‘fungi tiles’ that could one day help to bring the heat down in buildings without consuming energy. These wall tiles are made from a new biomaterial combining fungi's root network – called mycelium – and organic waste. Earlier research has shown that mycelium-bound composites are more energy efficient than conventional building insulation materials such as expanded vermiculite and lightweight expanded clay aggregate.

Building on this proven insulating property, the scientists add a bumpy, wrinkly texture to the tile, mimicking an elephant’s ability to regulate heat from its skin.

KAIST researchers have successfully developed a novel drug to restore vision.

More mammals were living on the ground several million years before the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, new research led by the University of Bristol has revealed.

Genomic changes in the infectious yeast Candida tropicalis may play a role in its resistance to antifungals, according to a study published on April 1^st in the open-access journal, PLOS Biology by Guanghua Huang at Fudan University, China, and colleagues. These genomic changes can be brought on by a common antifungal, TBZ. The study demonstrates that the use of TBZ in agriculture may contribute to the increasing problem of antifungal resistance.

A group of diatom species belonging to the Nitzschia genus, gave up on photosynthesis and now get their carbon straight from their environment, thanks to a bacterial gene picked up by an ancestor. Gregory Jedd of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore, and colleagues report these findings in a new study published April 1^st in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

In mice, autism symptoms arise when a certain pair of competing nerve proteins falls out of equilibrium, according to a study published April 1^st in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Dongdong Zhao of Wenzhou Medical University, China, Yun-wu Zhang of Xiamen University, China, and colleagues.