Nanowires are ultra-tiny metal threads that, under specific conditions, grow like plants out of chemical and metal substrates. Now, in this incredible video, you can see what they look like when they're growing. They're pretty much nanoscopic Cthulhu tentacles.
Diving for elephant fish eggs
University of Cambridge biologist Andrew Gillis studies the embryos of elephant fish, distant relatives of sharks with long, trunklike snouts. But how, exactly, do you get an elephant fish embryo? You go diving for them, of course. In this video, Gillis describes how he gets these fish embryos and what he finds…
A video that shows how your stomach communicates with your brain - on…
Especially in the presence of fatty or sugary foods, many of us feel like our stomachs control our brains. Now, University of Cambridge zoologist Paola Cognigni shows you exactly how the brain and gut function as an anatomical circuit in the body of a fruit fly — and this can shed light on the human brain/gut…
Here's what it looks like when you turn human skin cells into neural…
You've probably heard of experiments where scientists create stem cells out of other kinds of cells. Now, you can actually see what that looks like. Here, you can see the work of University of Cambridge neuroscientist Yichen Shi, who has turned ordinary human skin cells into neural stem cells that, in the future, we …
The mysterious "fishbone" pattern created by two jets of water
Fluid dynamics can be quite bizarre, and scientists are still trying to understand what causes various liquids to create predictable (and unpredictable) patterns. University of Cambridge engineer Sungjune Jung shows us how jets of liquid water, over time, can be made to transform from a sheer sheet of water into a…
The exquisite nature of skin cells, captured in a single image
The cosmic wilderness you see in this video is a snapshot of the micro-ecosystem that exists in the upper layer of skin on a mouse's tail. University of Cambridge biologist Claire Cox, who works with the Centre for Stem Cell Research, explains what you're seeing here in all its perfect complexity.
Why this fish has teeth all over its body
This beautiful image of a skate fish embryo reveals something truly extraordinary about the scales on its body. As University of Cambridge biologist Andrew Gillis explains, they are, in fact, quite similar to human teeth. They're even controlled by genes similar to those that control tooth growth in humans. You may…
A luminescent portrait of cell movements in a developing embryo
Imagine if you could track the movement of every single cell in a developing embryo, discovering what each undifferentiated cell turned into. It could allow you to reverse-engineer the construction of an organism. University of Cambridge zoology researcher Matt Benton is tracking the movements in beetle embryos…
This is the "stretchable gold" that will power rubber circuit boards
We've been hearing a lot about how the future of electronics will involve stretchy circuit boards
