All Stories by Susan Milius
- Plants
Hermaphrodite wildflower has its own battle of the sexes
A new example of sexual conflict shows up in a plant with a troublesome pollinator.
- Animals
The blue wings of this dragonfly may be surprisingly alive
The wings of adult morpho dragonflies show tiny respiratory channels that may support a complex of nanostructures that shine blue.
- Plants
Floral curve test shows what’s great for a moth is not so good for a flower
3-D printed flowers reveal a hidden conflict between a hawk moth and the flowers it pollinates.
- Paleontology
New fossils shake up history of amphibians with no legs
The oldest near-relative of today’s snake-shaped caecilians could have an unexpected backstory.
- Paleontology
Ancient attack marks show ocean predators got scarier
Killer snails and other ocean predators that drill through shells have grown bigger over evolutionary time.
- Climate
Climate change might help pests resist corn’s genetic weapon
Rising temperatures may allow pests to eat corn that is genetically modified to produce an insect-killing toxin.
- Life
How a flamingo balances on one leg
Flamingos’ built-in tricks for balance might have a thing or two to teach standing robots or prosthesis makers someday.
- Animals
Orangutans take motherhood to extremes, nursing young for more than eight years
Weaning in orangutans has been tricky to see in the wild, so researchers turned to dental tests to reveal long nursing period.
- Animals
Blennies have a lot of fang for such little fishes
Unlike snakes, blennies evolved fangs before venom, through probably not because of any need to hunt big prey.
- Genetics
Selfish genes hide for decades in plain sight of worm geneticists
Crossing wild Hawaiian C. elegans with the familiar lab strain reveals genes that benefit themselves by making mother worms poison offspring who haven’t inherited the right stuff.
- Animals
In Florida, they’re fighting mosquitoes by meddling with their sex lives
As an alternative to genetically modified mosquitoes, Florida skeeter police are testing one of two strategies that use bacteria to meddle with insect sex lives.
- Animals
Sea creatures’ sticky ‘mucus houses’ catch ocean carbon really fast
A new deepwater laser tool measures the carbon-filtering power of snot nets created by little-known sea animals called giant larvaceans.
