All Stories by Susan Milius
- Microbes
Possible nearest living relatives to complex life found in seafloor mud
New phylum of sea-bottom archaea microbes could be closest living relatives yet found to the eukaryote domain of complex life that includes people.
- Plants
How slow plants make ridiculous seeds
Coco de mer palms scrimp, save and take not quite forever creating the world’s largest seeds.
- Animals
Bees may like neonicotinoids, but some may be harmed
Two high-profile tests raise worries that bees can’t avoid neonicotinoid pesticides and that wild species are at special risk.
- Animals
Finland’s brown bears on surprise fast track to recover diversity
Brown bears in southern Finland show surprisingly fast improvements in genetic diversity and connections with other bears.
- Animals
When mom serves herself as dinner
For this spider, extreme motherhood ends with a fatal family feast.
- Animals
Whether froglets switch sexes distinguishes ‘sex races’
Rana temporaria froglets start all female in one region of Europe; in another region, new froglets of the same species have gonads of either sex.
- Plants
Bits of bacterial DNA naturally lurk inside sweet potatoes
Samples of cultivated sweet potatoes worldwide carry DNA from Agrobacterium cousin of bacterium used for GMOs.
- Animals
Gazing deeply into your dog’s eyes unleashes chemical attraction
Dogs and people gazing into each other’s eyes give each other a bond-strengthening rush of oxytocin.
- Animals
Shimmer and shine may help prey sabotage predators’ aim
Iridescent prey was more difficult to strike in a video game for birds.
- Plants
Plants suck in nicotine from nearby smokers
Peppermint plants can build up nicotine from tobacco dropped on their soil or smoked indoors.
- Life
It’s true: Butterfly spots can mimic scary eyes
Contrary to recent studies, the old notion that butterfly wing eyespots evoke predator eyes may not be so old-fashioned after all.
- Animals
Mouse mates with similar personalities start families faster
Among monogamous mound-building mice, the more closely mates match in a tendency toward anxiety, the sooner they start having babies
