An invisible intruder puts the delicate balance in our lungs to the test: the mold Aspergillus fumigatus, harmless in nature, can become a serious danger if the immune system is weakened - and change the entire bacterial world in the lungs. But that's not all: the intestines and metabolism also appear to be affected by a lung infection.

The rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the need for advanced tools to predict future outbreaks. The study introduces CoVFit, an AI-driven model that analyzes spike protein mutations to assess the fitness of SARS-CoV-2 variants. By combining molecular and epidemiological data, CoVFit provides early insights into the transmissibility and immunity evasion of emerging variants, offering a powerful tool for pandemic preparedness, vaccine design, and global risk assessment.

OneCareAI offers a technology that applies AI and supercomputing to detect early stroke risk from electrocardiogram data obtained with smartwatches

How do organisms adapt to climate change? A new study reveals the complex interplay between genetic diversity and temperature tolerance evolution.

Most plants form symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi since their emergence on land hundreds of millions of years ago. Depending on the availability of carbon (C), these symbioses employ two nutrient acquisition strategies: (i) via mycorrhizal fungi and (ii) via roots. While nutrient acquisition through symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi is C costly, it is fundamental for plant growth, community and ecosystem functioning.

Biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have released the first broad scale, comparative, fine-grained analysis linking the amplitude, or volume, of a birds’ song to its vocal frequency, or pitch. Though biologists have long wondered whether birds are able to control their pitch as they get louder or if their vocal abilities are mechanically limited, until now there has been no wide-ranging data with which to probe this aspect of the evolutionary history of birdsong. The study, published recently in Proceedings B, is a large step forward in the goal of understanding how communication and evolution have influenced each other.