The Jamestown settlers strangely picked up donkeys on their way to the New World and probably ate them

When the Jamestown settlers first arrived in Virginia, they brought with them supplies and tools they believed they would need to start a new colony. While historical records indicate that these supplies included horses, new archaeological evidence reveals that another livestock staple was also present in the colony. Through a new zooarchaeological analysis published in…

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AI-designed proteins test biosecurity safeguards

New patches to biosecurity screening software can make it harder to produce potentially harmful proteins using artificial intelligence. Around the world, this software monitors processes to artificially make proteins, ensuring that people with bad intentions aren’t producing dangerous proteins, such as toxins. Making slight tweaks with AI to known toxins or viral proteins can bypass…

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Unforced Variations: September 2025

This month’s open thread. As always, try to be substantial and avoid insults and personal attacks on other commenters. Any abusive comments or sock puppets will be deleted as soon as they are seen. Also, don’t outsource your comments to ChatGPT – cutting and pasting long LLM results is tedious and adds nothing to the…

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‘Dead’ man woke up on operating table while his organs were removed and lived to tell the tale

A man in Kentucky was just minutes away from having his organs removed when medical staff realized he was not dead. What followed became one of the most disturbing incidents in the history of organ donation in the United States, prompting federal investigationsstaff resignations and a renewed public debate on the medical definition of death….

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The last word on anything

I love listening to people speak a language I don’t know. I mean, it’s delightful to hear one of the Romance languages ​​recited on the tongue, and it’s nice when your brain reaches into the tattered old pocket labeled “high school French” to tell you what it means. But I’m talking about not knowing a…

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[Botany • 2025] Echeveria machucae (Crassulaceae) • A new species from Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract A new species, Echeveria machucae (be. nudesCrassulaceae), is described from specimens collected in El Jacal, municipality of Atenguillo, Jalisco. He is a supposed close relative of E. flammígerafrom which it is differentiated by having larger stems, larger leaves, racemose to occasionally thyrisform inflorescences, longer pedicels, presence of yellow corollas and wider yellow nectarian scales….

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How to Write a Research Literature Review

Literature reviews provide the building blocks for business research, assisting in theory, evidence-based practice and the advancement of knowledge. Systematic, semi-systematic and integrative reviews have advantages and disadvantages, since determining the type of review will depend on the purpose of the research. In any case, conducting a good literature review involves careful planning, transparent methodology,…

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