A University of Alberta-led research team has taken a rare look inside the skull of a dinosaur and come away with unprecedented details on the brain and nasal passages of the 72 million year old animal.

Imagine a single drug that would treat most, if not all, autoimmune disorders, such as asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and Lupus. That might not be so hard to do thanks to a team of researchers who have discovered a molecule normally used by the body to prevent unnecessary immune reactions. This molecule, pronounced "alpha v beta 6," normally keeps our immune systems from overreacting when food passes through our bodies, and it may be the key that unlocks entirely new set of treatments for autoimmune disorders. This discovery was recently published in research report appearing the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (https://www.jleukbio.org).

A new technique developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine allows researchers to identify the exact DNA sequences and locations bound by regulatory RNAs. This information is necessary to understand how the recently identified RNA molecules control the expression of neighboring and distant genes.

As nocturnal animals, bats rely echolocation to navigate and hunt prey. By bouncing sound waves off objects, including the bugs that are their main diet, bats can produce an accurate representation of their environment in total darkness. Now, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Pennsylvania have shown that this amazing ability is enabled by a physical trait never before seen in mammals: so-called "superfast" muscles.

Ever wondered why you wake up in the morning ---- even when the alarm clock isn't making jarring noises? Wonder no more. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a new component of the biological clock, a gene responsible for starting the clock from its restful state every morning.