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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Peer-reviewed journal

Appears in 6 stories · Last updated Nov 8, 2026

Stories

Researchers report fossilized red blood cells in a 115-million-year-old dinosaur bone

New Capabilities

Published the study

A team led by geochemist Kliti Grice at Curtin University in Perth says it has found red blood cell-shaped structures and chemical traces of heme inside the limb bone of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a 3-meter theropod from northeastern Brazil that died about 115 million years ago. The paper appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Updated 3 days ago

Lab-grown retinas reveal how the eye builds its sharpest vision

New Capabilities

Published the study

The foveola is a sliver of tissue at the very center of the retina, and the researchers say it accounts for roughly half of human visual perception. It also has an odd composition: it holds red and green cones but no blue ones. Johns Hopkins scientists grew that region in a dish and watched it assemble itself, then described a mechanism that contradicts an explanation the field has used for about 30 years.

Updated Oct 31

Honey bee stinger revealed as double-piston venom pump

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Publication venue

A honey bee's stinger keeps working after it tears free from the bee. Two flexible flaps inside it slide in opposite directions like pistons, pushing venom out without a pause.

Updated Oct 22

First complete census of lower-48 glaciers finds a quarter already gone

New Capabilities

Published the comprehensive glacier loss study

For the first time, researchers have counted and measured every glacier in the lower 48 states. The census, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows 398 glaciers have vanished since the mid-20th century.

Updated Oct 18

Texas A&M engineers trace how thymine shielded early DNA from UV light

New Capabilities

Published the study

For decades, biologists puzzled over a chemical swap at the heart of heredity. When life moved from RNA to DNA, the base uracil was replaced by thymineโ€”even though thymine absorbs more ultraviolet damage, and early Earth had no ozone layer to block the sun's radiation.

Updated Oct 17

The push for practical superconductors

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As of May 2026: Publisher of the 151K paper

For 33 years, a mercury-based ceramic held the record for superconductivity at normal atmospheric pressure: 133 Kelvin, set in 1993. Physicists at the University of Houston just pushed that mark 18 degrees higher.

Updated May 28