Animals
- Paleontology
Giant 17-million-year-old fossil sperm found
Giant sperm have been found in 17-million-year-old fossilized mussel shrimp. The specimens, collected in Queensland, Australia, sport the oldest petrified sex cells on record.
- Neuroscience
To pee or not to pee
Mice recognize others’ scents through proteins in urine, suggesting that mouse pheromones produce more complex behaviors than previously thought.
- Animals
A tale of wolves, moose and missing ice
Wolves have persisted on Lake Superior’s Isle Royale for decades, keeping moose in check, but climate change may doom the balance between the two species.
- Life
Pain may keep predators away, in squid anyway
Compared to healthy squid, injured ones start their defensive behaviors, including inking, when sea bass are farther away.
- Animals
Birds have clever solution for a cuckoo conundrum
Superb fairy wrens teach their incubating babies a password, and they become better teachers when they hear cuckoos are around.
- Genetics
Spider genomes give hints about venom, silk production
The genetic codes identify new proteins that may be involved in making and turning on toxins in venom and also those used to make spider silk.
- Animals
Everyday electronics may upset birds’ compass
Weak electromagnetic waves, coming from normal university activities, interfere with European robins’ migratory orientation.
- Life
New bird flu found in Antarctic penguins
Designated H11N2, the virus was found in less than 3 percent of the 301 Adélie penguins tested and the infection is asymptomatic.
- Animals
Woodpecker beaks divulge shock-absorbing properties
Scales, sutures and porosity help the birds hammer without going stupid.
- Animals
What animal is the world’s best rock climber?
Lots of animals manage to scale vertical heights, and each has their own way of accomplishing the feat.
- Animals
Narwhal has the strangest tooth in the sea
Sometimes called the unicorn of the sea, the male narwhal’s tusk is actually a tooth. Narwhals detect changes in water salinity using only these tusks, a new study finds.
- Animals
How to milk a naked mole-rat
For the sake of science, Olav Oftedal has milked bats, bears and a lot of other mammals. But a naked mole-rat was something new.
