Graduate student Shiuan-Tze Wu led a study of some ingenious organization into the odor-sensing cells of fruit flies. He and his collaborators at the La Jolla campus of UC San Diego found that the odor-detector cells in the insects’ antennae talk to one another in a way that saves brainpower.

Two separate spider research projects published remarkable results, both in the journal Current Biology. These spiders’ specific features show their miniature skills, and cause us to marvel at their Maker.

by Randy J. Guliuzza and Aaron T. Guliuzza*

The sprouting of a seed is crucial to not only the beginning of a plant’s life, but all life on earth. Despite this fundamental process of importance to plant biology, scientists are baffled over how seeds detect when there’s enough water to germinate. This mystery is now beginning to unfold and nothing less than finely tuned engineering is the clear result.
 

About 1,600 years ago, salt miners in Iran apparently left their lamb lunch down the shaft. Their loss became scientists' gain. The now-mummified sheep carcass suggests that salt helps preserve sheepskin DNA.