Biochemistry

New laboratory studies could shed light on a rock containing potential signs of alien life that’s stranded on Mars

New experiments show how RNA might form not just on Earth but on other rocky planets, too

Biomining uses engineered microbes to harvest critical minerals

A new snakebite treatment combines an existing drug with antibodies from a hyperimmune reptile collector, raising both hopes and ethical concerns

Charged water droplets generate sparks that can forge organic compounds

Misfolded proteins may preserve postmortem brains well after other tissues have decayed

Social wasps can hold their liquor

Mysterious “leopard spots” on a Martian rock could be evidence of extraterrestrial life—or of mere lifeless chemistry. Finding out the truth may require bringing the rock back to Earth

Injection of a hormone called FGF21 rapidly revives intoxicated mice.

Hungarian-American biophysicist and inventorMária Telkes illuminated the field of solar energy. She invented a solar oven, a solar desalination kit and, in the late 1940s, designed one of the first solar-heated houses

A chemical trick for making oxygen can sustain whole underground ecosystems

Minuscule motor molecules could emit light as they journey into cells