Life
- Science & Society
Powerful rhetoric can overlook important details
Our Editor in Chief discusses the potential hazards of broad generalizations, specifically when it comes to genetically modified foods and abundant energy.
By Eva Emerson - Genetics
GMOs haven’t delivered on their promises — or risks
Genetically modified foods have been studied extensively and are abundant on supermarket shelves, but they haven’t managed to end world hunger yet.
- Animals
Skin color changes reveal octopus drama
Shallow-water octopuses use changes in skin color to communicate aggression to their peers, study suggests.
- Animals
Feral dogs take a bite out of Andean wildlife
A survey of a remote park in Ecuador finds feral dogs are a problem for many species of native mammals.
- Genetics
Mice can be male without Y chromosome
Researchers bypass the Y chromosome to make male mice.
- Animals
Devils Hole pupfish may not have been so isolated for so long
New genetic study questions Devils Hole pupfish’s supposed history of long isolation.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Climate change may be deadly for snowshoe hares
The mismatch between coat color and the landscape can be deadly for a snowshoe hare.
- Paleontology
Plesiosaurs swam like penguins
Computer simulations of plesiosaur swimming motion may resolve long-standing debate on how the marine reptile got around.
- Animals
Christmas tree worms have eyes that breathe, gills that see
Christmas tree worms and other fan worms have improvised some of the oddest eyes.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Monkeys with human gene show signs of autism
Genetically altered monkeys may help scientists understand autism.
- Plants
To catch a meal, a Venus flytrap counts to five
It takes two taps to trigger a Venus flytrap to close. Another three, a new study finds, are needed to turn on genes for producing enzymes.
- Animals
Tegu lizards warm up for mating season
The heat is on in tegu lizards during mating season, study suggests.