A new analysis of state health department data reveals that more than 6,400 Illinois residents were diagnosed with tickborne diseases from 2004-2022. The most commonly reported infections in the state are Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis and spotted-fever group rickettsioses.

A new study from the University of Würzburg shows that a varied forest structure influences spider diversity. Creating forest clearings can, in some cases, significantly reduce this diversity.

Scientists from NTU Singapore and Waseda University have developed a flexible “diving suit” for cyborg cockroaches, enabling the insects to survive, and move underwater and in low-oxygen environments for up to three hours. Published today in Nature Communications, the study could expand the use of cyborg insects in search-and-rescue missions, especially in disaster zones where flooded rubble, puddles or partially submerged spaces can block access for conventional robots.

In tests, the scientists built plastic tubes that simulated various environments, such as flooded tunnels filled with carbon dioxide to replicate a low-oxygen environment. With the new 3D-printed suit, the cyborg insects were able to remain active and move underwater for up to three hours. This turns the land-based cyborg insect into an amphibious cyborg that could operate across both dry and wet terrain. The work builds on more than a decade of cyborg insect research at NTU, where Prof Sato has developed cyborg insects for applications across land, sea and air.

University of Tennessee Extension offers tips for effective fire ant control, helping communities stay safe outside this summer.

Traces or perforations caused by living organisms after the animal’s death can be found on various dinosaur bone remains. These perforations, known as bioerosion structures, provide information that helps us understand the relationships between living organisms in the past, reconstruct palaeoecosystems and improve our understanding of the fossilization process. Now, a study published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews has identified this type of perforation in bones and, for the first time, also in pieces of dermal armour (osteoderms) from titanosaurs at the Lo Hueco site (Cuenca,Spain), dating from the Late Cretaceous.

Researchers combined adaptive optics and parallel optical coherence tomography to capture high-speed, 3D views of individual cells in the living retina. This non-invasive advance could drastically improve the early  detection and monitoring of chorioretinal diseases. 

Agricultural scientists are rethinking their battle plans against plant parasites that cause billions of dollars in annual yield losses for American farmers. 

Chemical nematicides, soil treatments and biological controls have had mixed success against the soybean cyst nematode, and many potential solutions carry environmental or economic limitations.

Host resistance — breeding soybean varieties that can withstand infection — has been the most effective and environmentally friendly management tool, but its usefulness is declining. Asia Kud, an assistant professor of nematology in the department of entomology and plant pathology for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Kud was awarded a $298,913 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue researching a strategy to stop these pest nematodes from feeding and reproducing by interfering feeding sites they create with proteins called effectors.