On the ground or in the atmosphere? Swarm satellites help characterize and pinpoint destructive events

A review in Quantitative Biology demonstrates that scientists can now reliably build and combine very large pieces of DNA, making it much easier to redesign microbes such as yeast and bacteria to act as efficient "cell factories." With these advances, whole biological pathways, and even extra chromosomes, can be assembled and inserted into cells, allowing microbes to produce complex products like medicines, fuels, and chemicals more efficiently than before.

Grasslands and associated wildlife in the Great Plains of North America have declined precipitously and are now experiencing an increase in large wildfire activity. In a Journal of Wildlife Management study evaluating habitat use by lesser prairie chickens—a prairie grouse of conservation concern—before and immediately after a 2017 megafire, investigators found that the birds were forced out of formerly high-quality habitat in large, contiguous grasslands and into sub-optimal habitat and smaller

Research published in The FEBS Journal may help overcome challenges to the treatment of malaria—a tropical disease caused by infection of red blood cells with Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted through infected mosquito bites. The research is based on a strategy that targets an enzyme specific to the parasite, falcipain-2 (FP2), which is essential for parasite survival and growth within the host.

A forgotten fossil hidden inside a garden wall has turned out to be one of Australia’s most remarkable prehistoric discoveries. Scientists have now identified the 240-million-year-old amphibian, Arenaerpeton supinatus, revealing an almost perfectly preserved skeleton—complete with rare traces of skin. This ancient river predator, about 1.2 meters long, looked somewhat like a giant salamander but was bulkier and armed with fearsome fang-like teeth.