6,697 results
- Animals
It’s bat vs. bat in aerial jamming wars
In nighttime flying duels, Mexican free-tailed bats make short, wavering sirenlike sounds that jam each other’s sonar.
- Genetics
Scorpion’s sting evolved from insects’ defensive proteins
With a single genetic mutation, an insect’s defensive proteins can be transformed into a toxin that gives scorpions their signature sting, a new study shows.
- Animals
Most extreme female penis is found on cave lice
Female penis, male vagina have been discovered in tiny Brazilian insects.
- Animals
The dinosaurs in the backyard
Chickens are some of the closest relatives of dinosaurs, and though genetic tinkering the birds might even one day be turned into tiny dinos.
- Ecosystems
Virus-blocking insects taking over Vietnamese island
Field trial tests mosquitoes that may stop the spread of dengue infection.
- Animals
Look beyond pest species to find beauty in cockroaches
A few pest species give the group a bad name, but exotic roaches include an amazing diversity of colors and lifestyles.
- Animals
Ant lions hunt despite sealed lips
Ant lions are ferocious predators, but some of them don’t have a mouth. At least not in the usual sense.
- Plants
South American vine is a masterful mimic
The vine Boquila trifoliolata changes the shape of its leaves to match its host and avoid getting eaten.
- Life
Tasty animals end up on latest list of threatened species
Growing food market lands several species, including Pacific bluefin tuna and Chinese pufferfish, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Animals
Monarch butterflies’ ancestors migrated
The earliest monarch butterflies originated in North America and were migratory. Some of the insects later lost that ability as they moved into the tropics, a genetic analysis finds.
- Environment
Human ingenuity takes on Mother Nature in ‘The Big Ratchet’
Geographer Ruth DeFries explains how technological innovations have allowed humans to overcome environmental challenges throughout history.
- Science & Society
Old periodic table could resolve today’s element placement dispute
A little-known genius figured out where all the elements in the periodic table should be placed long before some of them were discovered.
