All Stories by Susan Milius
- Life
Insulin may be Big Antler hormone
Extra sensitivity to the hormone in certain developing tissues might give animals their oversized weapons and ornaments.
- Life
Young flies cannibalize the plump
An evolutionary biologist’s modest proposal shocks colleagues who thought they knew everything about their favorite laboratory organism.
- Animals
Mosquitoes Remade
Scientists reinvent agents of illness to become allies in fight against disease.
- Genetics
Convenience shoulders tomato taste aside
Decades of breeding for uniform color in unripe fruit may accidentally have reduced flavor.
- Humans
Lead poisoning stymies condor recovery
California’s iconic comeback species may need human help as long as even a small percentage of the carcasses they eat contain lead shot.
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- Life
New frontiers for coyotes may bring more Lyme disease
Forget the deer. Maybe it's coyotes on the move that can explain the recent increase in Lyme disease.
- Life
Peacocks ruffle feathers, make a rumble
New recordings reveal that male birds use infrasound, emitting low-pitch sounds detected by peers but inaudible to human ears.
- Life
Chicks do worse in noisy nests
Baby bluebirds, and their parents, appear to have trouble communicating over the racket made by nearby humans.
- Life
Invasive mite worsens honeybee viruses
Once-obscure deformed wing virus swept to prominence in honeybee colonies in Hawaiian islands as invasive pest arrived.
- Animals
How a mosquito survives a raindrop hit
Lightweight insects can ride a water droplet, as long as they separate from it before hitting the ground.
- Life
Blue-green algae release chemical suspected in some amphibian deformities
Retinoic acid levels high in waterways rich in cyanobacteria blooms.
