Life

Animals

How dingoes got down under

DNA analysis suggests that Australia got its famous dingoes from a very few dogs brought along with people fanning out from East Asia some 5,000 years ago.

Plants

Smokey the Gardener

Wildfire smoke by itself, without help from heat, can trigger germination in certain seeds, but just what the vital compound in that smoke might be has kept biologists busy for years.

Paleontology

Growth Spurt: Teenage tyrannosaurs packed on the pounds

Detailed analyses of tyrannosaur fossils suggest that the creatures experienced an extended growth spurt during adolescence.

Plants

Lowering lilies on the tree of life

Water lilies may belong on the lowest branch of the family tree of flowering plants, along with a shrub called Amborella.

Paleontology

Fossil find extends ants’ ancient lineage

The recently described, 92-million-year-old fossil of a primitive worker ant pushes back the first record of its particular subfamily by 40 million years, forcing researchers to reevaluate their ideas about the early evolution of these insects.

Animals

Time to revise right whales’ family tree?

A statistical analysis of DNA from nearly 400 right whales around the world suggests there may be three species of Eubalena, not just two—a conclusion that may boost conservation efforts.

Animals

Really big guys restrain youth violence

Importing six full-grown bull elephants into a park of youngsters stopped killing sprees by young males.

Paleontology

Bird Brain? Cranial scan of fossil hints at flight capability

Detailed computerized tomography scans of the fossilized braincase of an Archaeopteryx show that several flight-related regions of the feathered creature's brain were highly developed.

Animals

Anybody know this fish?

A 2-month marine-biodiversity survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge concluded this week, bringing home much data and some novel specimens.

Animals

Whys Guy

Interested in seeing an exploding watermelon, using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, or knowing why a hurricane spins? Physicist Mats Selen of the University of Illinois has appeared regularly on a local morning TV program to demonstrate a wide variety of physical and chemical phenomena. View video clips of these entertaining presentations. Requires Windows […]

Ecosystems

Corals without Boarders

The last decade has been a great era for discovering corals in the deep ocean, but a United Nations report warns that these cold, dark reefs urgently need protection.

Ecosystems

Fish Stew: Species interplay makes fisheries management tricky in the long run

Annual fluctuations in certain fish populations can be best understood and controlled by accounting for ecological factors, such as predation by other fish, in addition to fisheries harvests.