Imagine a creature nearly twice the size of a modern African elephant, which can weigh up to 6,000 kg. This was Elephas (Paleoxodon) recki, a prehistoric titan that roamed the landscape of what is now Tanzania nearly two million years ago. Now, imagine a group of our ancestors standing over its carcass, then butchering it and eating it.

Debates over how geometry is understood and learned date back at least to the days of Plato, with more recent scholars concluding that only humans possess the foundations of this understanding. However, a new analysis by New York University psychology professor Moira Dillon concludes that geometry's foundations are shared by humans and a variety of other animals—from rats to chickens to fish.

University of Tennessee Knoxville professor and Goodrich Chair of Excellence in Civil Engineering Frank Loeffler and his co-authors published new research on the environmental impacts of "forever chemicals" in Nature Microbiology. Their study uncovered that bacteria incorporate polyfluoroalkyl carboxylates—a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—into the molecules that make up their cell membranes.

Most people think of diamonds as high-end adornments. Not Ania Bleszynski Jayich. The UC Santa Barbara physicist sees diamonds, which she grows in the UC Quantum Foundry, as a potentially powerful foundation for quantum sensors. Sensors are currently much farther along in their development than other potential quantum applications. Diamond sensors are particularly promising because diamonds require relatively few quantum bits (qubits) to operate, whereas a quantum computer, for instance, requires more than 100,000, perhaps as many as a million, qubits to handle error correction, one of the main hurdles for quantum computing.

New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, lives as a parasite in coyotes, foxes and other canid species and can cause severe disease if passed to domestic dogs or humans.

How can we predict species' responses to always-arising changes in our world? A long-term ecological study from Yokohama National University researchers suggests the answer may lie in a few small simple biological traits. Their findings offer a framework for better anticipating biodiversity change and improving proactive conservation strategies. The results were published in Nature Communications on March 14.

Reef sharks are observed less frequently on Caribbean reefs that have high levels of diving activity and greater coastal development, according to new research published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Even recreational activities that are often considered low impact are associated with fewer sharks on these reefs. Reef sharks play an important role in maintaining healthy reefs by helping to keep the ecosystem in balance.

Just as embroiderers, with needle and thread, can transform plain fabric into an intricate pattern, engineers can use lasers and polymers to create flexible, complex structures that could transform life-saving sensing technology. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering has developed a new manufacturing strategy that reveals where and how laser-induced graphene (LIG) forms on polymers.

In Puerto Rico, drought doesn't always arrive slowly. Sometimes, it appears in days. That speed can leave producers scrambling, reservoirs dropping, and communities facing water restrictions before they can react. In a place often associated with heavy rain and hurricanes, drought is often overlooked, but very much a reality. New research from Virginia Tech is helping explain why.

Cell cultures—single layers of cells grown in a small dish—have enabled researchers to study biological growth, develop or test drugs and even discover what causes some diseases. Cell spheroids, 3D versions of cell cultures built using a process known as cell aggregation, are the next step in advancing this work, capable of more closely modeling real tissue. A new technology, invented by researchers from Penn State and detailed in a paper published in Advanced Science, could breathe fresh air into bottom-up tissue fabrication and potentially large-scale tissue engineering by addressing these issues.