Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Ecosystems
When Worms Fly: Insect larvae can survive bird guts
Insects can travel as larval stowaways in the guts of migrating birds.
- Ecosystems
Feminized cod on the high seas
Male cod in the open ocean are producing an egg-yolk protein ordinarily made only by females, signaling their potential exposure to estrogen-mimicking pollutants.
- Animals
Face Time: Bees can tell apart human portraits
Honeybees will learn to zoom up to particular human faces in a version of a facial-recognition test used for people.
- Paleontology
New View: Fossil offers novel look at an ancient bird
A newly described specimen of an ancient creature that most scientists consider the oldest known bird is posed in a way that provides new viewing angles for several body features.
- Ecosystems
Valuing Nature
With help from ecotourism-oriented commerce, the threatened birds of Uganda's Mabira Forest Reserve might just save themselves and set an example for conservationists elsewhere.
- Animals
Unway Sign: Ant pheromone stops traffic
Researchers have found a new kind of traffic sign on ant trails, a chemical "Do not enter" that keeps foragers from wasting their time on paths that don't lead to food.
- Animals
Tszzzzzt! Electric fish may jam rivals’ signals
An electric fish appears to sabotage a rival's electric signals as a fight starts. With Audio and Video.
- Paleontology
Ancient Grazers: Find adds grass to dinosaur menu
Analyses of fossilized dinosaur feces in India reveal the remains of at least five types of grasses, a surprising finding that's the first evidence of grass-eating dinosaurs and an indication that grasses diversified much earlier than previously recognized.
- Animals
Yikes! The Moon! Bat lunar phobia may come from slim pickings
A study of creatures that fly around at night suggests that scarce food may account for why some bats avoid hunting under a full moon.
- Paleontology
Big bird terrorized South America
Researchers in Argentina have discovered fossils that may represent the heftiest flightless bird to ever have roamed the planet.
- Paleontology
Tusk analyses suggest weaning took years
Changes in the proportions of various chemical isotopes deposited in mammoth tusks as they grew have enabled scientists to estimate how long it took juvenile mammoths to become fully weaned.
- Paleontology
Mmmm, that’s crunchy
Isotopic analyses of the teeth of otters and mongooses from Africa have led one paleontologist to suggest that some of humanity's ancient kin shared those modern animals' preference for shelled prey such as freshwater crabs and snails.
