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Scientists have found that wild chimpanzees use plants with healing properties to treat themselves. They conducted their research in Uganda’s forests, carefully observing injured or sick animals to determine if they were using plants as medicine. When they noticed an injured chimp eating a specific plant, they collected samples for analysis. They discovered that many of these plants have properties that fight bacteria. The researchers, who shared their discoveries in the journal PLOS One, believe that studying chimpanzees could lead to the development of additional medications. Dr. Elodie Freymann, the lead researcher from the University of Oxford, highlighted the challenge...

Scientists hope the study of it and other giant genomes will shed light on species resilience. The New Caledonian fork fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolate) possesses the largest genome yet found. ORIANE HIDALGO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The human genome is made up of 3 billion base pairs of DNA. But that’s nothing compared with the New Caledonian fork fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolate), a leafy, tendrilled plant native to several Pacific islands. Its genome contains an astonishing 160 billion base pairs, making it the largest genome ever discovered, researchers report today in iScience. The finding could help scientists understand how genomes grow so large, and how...

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama joined comedian Zach Galifianakis on his Funny or Die web-based interview program, Between Two Ferns. The interview immediately became contentious when Galifianakis launched into a series of critiques of Obama’s presidency to which the president was unable to respond… because they were asinine. “When I heard that people actually watch this show, I was actually pretty surprised,” the president began. “In 2013, you pardoned a turkey,” Galifianakis noted. “What do you have planned for 2014?” “We’ll probably pardon another turkey,” Obama replied. The interview became tense when Galifianakis probed Obama over what he appeared to...