All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Comb jelly immune system can spot old enemies
Animal at base of family tree could help researchers understand the evolution of immunity.
- Animals
Mothballs, rubbing alcohol score poorly in tests of DIY bedbug control
Mattress encasement, dry ice in bags, hot clothes dryers do help control infestation.
- Animals
Sea slug mating features a stab in the head
Newly discovered hermaphroditic sea slug deploys specialized needle-thin organ for injections near the eyes.
- Animals
Pink armadillos ain’t your Texas critters
It’s a real animal, the smallest armadillo species in the world. At about 100 grams, it would fit in your hands.
- Life
Morel mushroom may grow crop of its own
A fungus could be a farmer itself, sowing, cultivating and harvesting bacteria.
- Animals
Common pesticides change odds in ant fights
Species’ combat success can rise or fall after repeated exposure to a common neonicotinoid insecticide.
- Plants
Single-sex flowers release his, hers fragrances
Growing on the same tree, male blooms smell different from female blooms in certain tropical plant species.
- Animals
The colorful lives of squid
Your calamari, it turns out, may have come from a temporary transvestite with rainbows in its armpits.
- Animals
Amphibian killer forces immune-cell suicides
Fungal menace to frogs and their kin shuts down key parts of the animals’ defenses.
- Animals
Lurking males lead to hard-to-fertilize mouse eggs
Mixed-sex society raises resistance to sperm in what may be a long-running arms race between the sexes over fertilization.
- Animals
Hibernating turtles don’t slip into a coma
Winterized red-eared sliders shut down their lungs but spring into action when they see light.
- Plants
Tiny fossils set record for oldest flowerlike pollen
Oldest flowerlike pollen might have come from an ancient relative of today’s flowering plants.
