Life
- Animals
A risk-tolerant immune system may enable house sparrows’ wanderlust
Birds that are willing to eat seed spiked with chicken poop have higher expression levels of a gut immunity gene, a new study finds.
- Animals
A frog’s story of surviving a fungal pandemic offers hope for other species
Evolving immunity to the Bd fungus and a reintroduction project saved a California frog. The key to rescuing other species might be in the frog’s genes.
- Animals
Hundreds of snake species get a new origin story
Elapoid snakes, including cobras, mambas and sea snakes, may have evolved in Asia, not Africa as many researchers once thought.
- Neuroscience
‘Then I Am Myself the World’ ponders what it means to be conscious
Neuroscientist Christof Koch’s new book discusses how information integration in the brain leads to consciousness and whether AI will ever be self-aware.
- Animals
Why a small seabird dares to fly toward cyclones
Tracking data show that Desertas petrels often veer toward cyclones and follow in their wake, perhaps to catch prey drawn to the surface.
- Animals
Pheromone fingers may help poison frogs mate
Specialized glands in the fingertips of some males may produce seductive chemical signals.
- Neuroscience
Alzheimer’s blood tests are getting better, but still have a ways to go
Blood biomarker tests could help doctors know if a person's cognitive symptoms are due to Alzheimer's or something else.
- Animals
Static electricity may help butterflies and moths gather pollen on the fly
Electrostatically charged lepidopterans could draw pollen out of flowers without touching the blooms, computer simulations suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Getting drugs into the brain is hard. Maybe a parasite can do the job
Researchers want to harness the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis to ferry drugs, but some question if the risks can be eliminated.
- Animals
Komodo dragon teeth get their strength from an iron coat
Studying the reptile’s ironclad teeth in more detail could help solve a dinosaur dental mystery.
- Health & Medicine
Some melanoma cancer cells may punch their way through the body
A new study clarifies how melanoma cells use cell membrane protrusions called “blebs” to burrow through tissue.
- Oceans
In a seafloor surprise, metal-rich chunks may generate deep-sea oxygen
Instead of sinking from the surface, some deep-sea oxygen may be created by battery-like nodules that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
