6,697 results
- Health & Medicine
Chikungunya is on the move
The chikungunya virus, which wreaks havoc on joints, has spread via mosquitoes in tropical regions. Now it has found a way to hijack a second mosquito, posing a threat to people in Europe, North America and China.
- Life
Mosquito sperm may sense smells
Mosquitoes’ sperm may have chemical sensors that detect odors similar to the way the insect’s antennae sort smells.
- Animals
Elephant shrews are, oddly, related to actual elephants
A new species in the group is the smallest yet, with adults smaller than a newborn kitten.
- Animals
Hummingbirds evolved a strange taste for sugar
While other birds seem to lack the ability to taste sugar, hummingbirds detect sweetness using a repurposed sensor that normally responds to savory flavors.
- Animals
How a chimp goes mattress hunting
Chimpanzees prefer firm beds made of ironwood, a new study finds.
- Life
In a crisis, fruit flies do stunt turns
An elaborate monitoring system reveals that fruit flies can execute sophisticated flying maneuvers in the face of danger.
- Animals
A brief history of animal death in space
The Russian “sexy space geckos” join a long list of creatures that have died after humans sent them into space.
- Animals
It doesn’t always take wings to fly high
Microbes, bees, termites and geese have been clocked at high altitudes, where air density and oxygen are low.
- Animals
Dead-ant wall protects young spider wasps
Bone-house wasps probably use a barrier of deceased insects to guard against predators.
- Life
Fledgling birds change rules for caterpillar color
An unusual experiment shows that larvae lose the advantage of warning colors during the seasonal flush of naïve predators.
- Animals
Young insect legs have real meshing gears
Tiny teeth on hiplike structures keep legs in sync, allowing juvenile planthoppers to jump.
- Life
Targeting single set of nerve cells may block mosquitoes
The insects use the same neurons to detect carbon dioxide from our breath and odors from our skin so blocking those cells could lead to more simplified repellent systems.
