News: Research
New Research Reveals How Changes in Social Status Impact the Brain
The study conducted in male mice found that bigger social tumbles are more stressful.
![Blue speckles on a black background represent imaging of the mouse amygdala](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3-2-brain-gene.jpg)
Some Bacteria Evolve Like Clockwork With the Seasons
The longest natural metagenome time series ever collected reveals a startling evolutionary pattern on repeat.
![Reeds peek above the surface of a lake with colorful clouds reflected in the water](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/lake-mendota-reeds-2016_2400x1600.jpg)
Scientists Use Ancient DNA to Shed Light on Adaptation of Early Europeans
By using ancient samples, the scientists managed to look back in time to uncover novel signatures of adaptation at the dawn of the agricultural revolution.
![An excavation of a human burial site.](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/dna-thumbnail_0.jpg)
Jackson School of Geosciences
The ‘Lost’ Prehistoric Cats of Natural Bridge Caverns
Melissa Kemp is part of a team studying recently recovered cat fossils from a Texas cave that are about 11,500 years old.
![The silhouette of a person standing inside a large cavern](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/the-inferno-room-photo-by-chris-higgins_840x600_acf_cropped.jpg)
Newly Discovered Antimicrobial Could Prevent or Treat Cholera
Natural antimicrobials called microcins are produced by bacteria in the gut and show promise in fighting infection.
![There are two images side-by-side. In the image on the left, a dark ring separates a blue disk in the middle from a field of grey surrounding the disk. The image on the right is similar, except there is no dark ring.](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3-2-davies-wilkie-saturated.jpg)
Next Time You Beat a Virus, Thank Your Microbial Ancestors
Two of our key defenses against viruses have persisted for billions of years, arising before complex life.
![Two curly ribbons, one purple and one green, represent the three dimensional shapes of two related proteins](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/asgard_euk-viperins_2400x1600.jpg)
Marine Science Institute
Digging into the Soil: Shedding Light on Unknown Players in Methane Production
A new study looks at metabolic processes in the previously understudied microbes called Asgard archaea in the soils of freshwater wetlands.
![Sunset over wetlands](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/wetlands-emerson-1200x800.jpg)
AI Opens Door to Safe, Effective New Antibiotics to Combat Resistant Bacteria
Protein large language models identify ways to make antibiotics better at targeting dangerous bacteria, without being toxic to humans.
![A green bacteria-shaped object with a red arrow piercing through its center. The bacteria is surrounded by concentric circles and smaller, blue, bacteria-like shapes. The background is a light blue grid with a pattern of binary code.](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/antibiotics3_2.jpg)
The Lesser of Two Weevils: Size Differences in Some Insects Lead to Tradeoffs in the Competition for Mates
The largest males have bigger weapons, but smaller males have other advantages.
![three jousting weevils on a wooden log](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/weevil_thumb.png)
For Rainforest Amphibians, the Bigger the Toes, the Higher They Go
In rainforests in Gabon, amphibians with larger toes relative to their body length are found higher in the forest canopy.
![Photo of orange and brown frog leptopelis boulengeri on a tree branch](https://cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/frog_thumb.png)