Life

Microbes

Archaea microbes fold, twist and contort their DNA in extreme ways

Single-celled archaea open and close their Slinky-like genetic material in a clamshell motion, possibly providing easy access to their genes.

Animals

A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

Animals

A sea slug’s detached head can crawl around and grow a whole new body

Chopped-up planarians regrow whole bodies from bits and pieces. But a sea slug head can regrow fancier organs such as hearts.

Animals

Delve into the history of the fight for Earth’s endangered creatures

The new book ‘Beloved Beasts’ chronicles past conservation efforts as a movement and a science, and explores how to keep striding forward.

Neuroscience

Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how

The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in other animals, senses pain and itch.

Animals

Female green tree frogs have noise-canceling lungs that help them hear mates

When inflated, female green tree frog lungs resonate in a way that reduces sensitivity to the sounds of other species.

Genetics

DNA databases are too white, so genetics doesn’t help everyone. How do we fix that?

A lack of diversity in genetic databases is making precision medicine ineffective for many people. One historian proposes a solution: construct reference genomes for individual populations.

Materials Science

This soft robot withstands crushing pressures at the ocean’s greatest depths

An autonomous robot that mimics the adaptations of deep-sea snailfish to extreme conditions was successfully tested at the bottom of the ocean.

Neuroscience

Three visions of the future, inspired by neuroscience’s past and present

Three fantastical tales of where neuroscience might take us are based on the progress made by brain researchers in the last 100 years.

Paleontology

Predatory octopuses were drilling into clamshells at least 75 million years ago

Holes found in ancient clams reveal that octopuses have been drilling into their prey for at least 25 million years longer than was previously known.

Archaeology

An ancient dog fossil helps trace humans’ path into the Americas

Found in Alaska, the roughly 10,000-year-old bone bolsters the idea that early human settlers took a coastal rather than inland route.

Animals

A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock

The Australian birds, already famous for their impressive song-copying skills, appear to be replicating the sounds of a “mobbing flock” of birds.