Harvard researchers built a swarm of simple ant-like robots (RAnts) that can collectively excavate and construct structures without central control. Their experiments show that adaptive group behavior can emerge from the interaction between many simple agents and their environment, with potential applications in many fields. 

A new study in Current Biology suggests that restoration of a rainforest tree on tropical atolls depends upon the right soil fungi being present. The tree species, Pisonia grandis, is the backbone of life on and around atolls: everything from seabirds to the surrounding coral reefs depend on these trees. Research from Palmyra Atoll, the most remote island on Earth, suggests that these extraordinary island ecosystems are dependent upon a specific mycorrhizal fungi that supplies resources to these Pisonia trees.

Researchers revealed how zinc levels control the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the cell’s primary protein factory, and how it fundamentally regulates cellular proteostasis. Using fluorescent probes, they found that the transporter ZIP7 keeps zinc levels in the ER low. When ZIP7 is disrupted, zinc level surges, inhibiting the enzyme Ero1 and disrupting the cell’s redox balance. This prevents proteins from folding correctly, leading to an array of pathologies including cancer.