When the World Was on Fire, Some Plants Decided to Work the Night Shift
They had no bark, no flowers, no seeds. But 252 million years ago, these ancient plants rewired their photosynthesis and inherited a scorched Earth. How did they know?
Nature
Pigeon Navigation Runs on Averaging. Nobody's Following the Leader.
Researchers tested seven strategies to explain how pigeon flocks get better at navigation across generations. The winner required no intelligence whatsoever.
Hello and Thanks for All the Fish
Dolphins have been hunting cooperatively with humans for centuries. Now researchers have documented another cross-species partnership; the other partner is a killer whale.
Rice Death Trap Spikes Pests
Rice plants have been luring caterpillars to their death. Once again, nature is schooling us on how to handle pests.
Sugar Maple Has Defined Michigan's Forests for Centuries. Its Own Seedlings Are Replacing It.
Michigan has more sugar maples than any state in the country. Something is already replacing them. It's been growing in the understory for 25 years.
You Have Genes That Regrow Limbs. The Trick Is Flipping the ON Switch.
Researchers found a shared genetic switch across three species that controls limb regrowth and used it to partially restore that ability in mice via gene therapy.
Sulfur Mollies Battle as One Body. Birds Calculate New Angles of Attack.
No individual fish makes the decision to dart; the entire shoal does. Birds hunting them developed work arounds. What does collective intelligence look like with no central brain?
A Greenland Shark's Heart Is Scarred, Stiff, and 400 Years Old. It's Still Beating.
Inside a Greenland shark's centuries-old heart, researchers found damage that would kill most vertebrates. The shark doesn't seem to notice.
Bird Retinas Contain No Blood Vessels. They Run on Sugar Instead.
The pecten oculi, a comb-like structure in bird eyes studied since the 1600s, is inspiring new research that could help stroke recovery.
The Bamboo Is Running the Panda Show
A carnivore that eats almost nothing but plants and may not even have a choice. What's inside panda blood is weirder than the diet itself.
Giant Squid. A Faceless Eel. A Bony-Eared Assfish. All Live Four Kilometers Deep Off Australia.
Environmental DNA shed by animals in the ocean is allowing scientists to record what lives in deep sea habitats.
Snuffleupagus Isn't Imaginary. He Lives in the Pacific Ocean.
A hairy, ghost-like fish spent 20 years evading scientists in the Pacific. What finally convinced them it was real?
Turns Out Cats Are Not Curious. They Just Like Being Right.
A study reveals that cats react more strongly to expected outcomes than surprising ones, which is the opposite of dogs, apes and infants.
Corkscrew Wounds on Baby Seals: The Real Killer Has Been Caught
For 40 years gray seal pups have been found dead with gruesome wounds attributed to sharks or boat propellers. The cannibal killer is on the beach, fasting between victims.
A Sea Urchin Passes Her Babies Something She Stole
Eggs packed with stolen plant machinery produce urchin larvae that travel farther. How mom pulls off the theft remains a mystery.
A Hot-Pink Insect in a Green Rainforest Is a Calendar
The katydid isn't the wrong color. The leaf isn't green yet.
Lab Bees Would Rather Play Ball Than Eat
One bee rolled a wooden ball 117 times. No reward, no food, no function. Young bees played more than old ones.
Ants Are Running a Moon-Based GPS
Bull ants navigate at night using a lunar compass that calculates the moon's position in real time.