Latest science news in Biology & Nature
Beetle-mounted camera streams insect adventures
Researchers have developed a tiny lightweight video camera that can be carried by a beetle.
When the beach was off-limits to humans, a rare colony of seabirds found a place to nest
When the humans left, the seabirds flocked home.
Predicting the biodiversity of rivers
Biodiversity is severely threatened both in Switzerland and worldwide, and numerous organisms are facing massive declines—particularly in freshwater ecosystems. All the species living in rivers—including fish, bacteria and many different...
Challenging jigsaw puzzles to keep you entertained for hours
You'll be set for days. (Mor THIAM via Unsplash/)Jigsaw puzzles have become increasingly popular as meditative, mindful activities—much like filling in coloring books or baking bread. If your current collection feels too easy,...
Happy 65th Birthday, Disneyland. I'm so glad you're closed
With COVID-19 raging in Florida and California, what does it mean that Disney World is open while Disneyland remains closed even for its 65th birthday?
Researchers Discover Two Paths of Aging and New Insights on Promoting Healthspan
Molecular biologists and bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have unraveled key mechanisms behind the mysteries of aging. They isolated two distinct paths that cells travel during aging...
Ultra-Black Skin Allows Some Fish to Lurk Unseen
If there were a stagehand of the sea, wearing black to disappear into the darkness backstage, it might be the dragonfish. Or the common fangtooth. These fish live in the...
Discovery of new glider species highlights conservation risk
Research by Charles Darwin University has changed what was known about the charismatic nectar-loving sugar glider, finding that they are at more risk than ever, particularly after the recent bushfires...
Cancer-causing dust released by earthworks
Tiny, needle-like fibers that can become airborne if bedrock is disturbed during earthworks has the potential to cause asbestos-type disease and should be investigated, scientists say.
A rare discovery: We found the sugar glider is actually three species, but one is disappearing fast
Most Australians are familiar with the cute, nectar-loving sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), a marsupial denizen of forests in eastern and northern Australia.
Reduction of bushmeat hunting
Extensive wildlife trade not only threatens species worldwide but can also lead to the transmission of zoonotic diseases. It encompasses hundreds of species with significant differences in their conservation status...
eDNA technology more effective in monitoring salmon runs
The annual upriver migration of Pacific wild salmon—integral to B.C.'s coastal ecosystem—is an important sustenance source for numerous animal species and a vital economic and cultural lifeline for Indigenous and...
New tools to study bioactive lipids
NAEs are bioactive lipid molecules that appear to play roles in energy balance, inflammation, stress responses and addiction. How NAE levels are regulated and their precise contributions to biological processes...
Climate change could make toxic algal blooms in our oceans more deadly
Late spring and early summer in California bring thousands of marine mammals to the state's beaches, as groups of California sea lions, elephant seals and harbor seals give birth along...
A short segment of a prion protein plays a critical role in its susceptibility to cross-species prion transmission
A short segment of an infectious protein known as a prion protein plays a crucial role in determining how susceptible the protein is to interspecies prion transmission, RIKEN researchers have...
These ultra-black fish camouflage with the darkness of the deep sea
The ultra-black Pacific black dragon (Idiacanthus antrostomus), the second-blackest fish studied by the research team. (Karen Osborn, Smithsonian/)When we think of deep ocean creatures adapting to the dark, bioluminescent jellyfish or the glowy...
Sperm discovery reveals clue to genetic 'immortality'
New insights into an elusive process that protects developing sperm cells from damage in growing embryos, sheds light on how genetic information passes down, uninterrupted, through generations.
Using neural-network soundscapes to protect natural environments
A team of researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Sydney and Cornel University has found that it is possible to create a soundscape from noises in the natural...
Hummingbirds can count to find favourite flowers, even with brains 7,000 times smaller than humans
How can hummingbirds find their preferred flowers? By counting, say researchers. Andrew Hurly, a professor emeritus in biology at the University of Lethbridge, is one of the co-authors of a...
Scientists discover new species of sponge on deep-sea reefs off B.C.'s coast
The new species — called Desmacella hyalina — was discovered using an underwater robot that travelled along the ocean floor, surveying reefs and collecting samples.
Scientists uncover first atomic structure of Epstein-Bar virus nucleocapsid
A team of Chinese scientists, led by Prof. Yu Xuekui from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Zeng Musheng from...
Teazer is here! 295-kg shark being tracked off eastern P.E.I.
A 295 kilogram, 3.27 metre-long great white shark named Teazer was tracked off the coast of P.E.I. Wednesday evening.
Shark pulls 10-year-old from fishing boat in Australia
A shark "grabbed" a 10-year-old boy from a fishing boat off Australia on Friday but swam off after his father jumped in to save him, officials said.
Megaphages harbor mini-Cas proteins ideal for gene editing
The DNA-cutting proteins central to CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene-editing tools originally came from bacteria, but a newfound variety of Cas proteins apparently evolved in viruses that infect bacteria.
Pine beetles successful no matter how far they roam—with devastating effects
Whether they travel only a few metres or tens of kilometres to a new host tree, female pine beetles use different strategies to find success—with major negative consequences for pine...
Megaphages harbor mini-Cas proteins ideal for gene editing
Cas proteins like CRISPR-Cas9 have great potential for gene therapy to treat human disease and for altering crop genes, but the gene-targeting and gene-cutting Cas proteins are often large and...
Memorial Tournament: Tony Finau leads by one shot, Tiger Woods in the hunt
Tony Finau finished with seven birdies over his final 10 holes in Thursday's opening round of the Memorial Tournament to grab a one-shot lead at Muirfield Village Golf Course in Dublin,...
Scientists shed light on how the blackest fish in the sea 'disappear'
Experts have shed light on the mystery of how the blackest fish in the deep sea are camouflaged.