Life
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Can we resurrect the thylacine? Maybe, but it won’t help the global extinction crisis
Assume we can make new thylacines, mammoths, diprotodons, or sabre-tooth cats. Great. Now where do we put them?
How Venus flytraps give scientists insights on consciousness and anesthesia
Anesthesia causes animals and humans to lose consciousness. A study found it has a similar effect on Venus flytraps.
Joro spider is a unique exception to a major threat
Can a non-native species be a friend instead of a foe?
Even worms make complex decisions
Salk scientists studied complex decision-making capabilities in a worm with just 302 neurons and a mouth full of teeth. It's smarter than you would think.
Northern white rhino: resurrecting an extinct species in four steps
Scientists at the San Diego Zoo are on a mission to resurrect the extinct northern white rhino.
How do birds navigate? When they face north, their brains do something incredible.
Head direction cells act like internal compasses to help the birds navigate during long flights.
Meet the ten-armed, 325-million-year-old octopus fossil named after President Joe Biden
Syllipsimopodi bideni is small (about 12cm in length), has ten arms, suckers, fins, and a triangular pen of hard tissue inside its body for support.
Just like dogs, ants can sniff out cancer
The insects were just as accurate as trained dogs, although not as cuddly.
Stunning fairy wrasse isn’t the fish scientists thought it was
Local researchers identify a striking rainbow-colored fairy wrasse found off the coast of the Maldives as a fish species all its own.
A neural network translates pigs’ emotions by listening to their grunts
The A.I. system could improve the lives of commercially raised pigs.
The insect brain: we froze ants and beetles to learn how they remember their way home
Two aspects of memory – fast updating and long lasting – are typically considered incompatible, yet the insects combined them.
How thinking emerged on Earth, from bacteria to the human mind
The human brain is only the latest chapter in the ancient story of thinking on Earth.
“Impossibly big” bacteria rattle the field of microbiology
A gigantic bacterium evolved differently than fundamental models of biology would have predicted. Simply put, these bacteria shouldn't exist.
Take a look at the deepest known squid, just found
Scientists captured it on footage 1.5 miles below the surface.
Dinosaurs got sick, too — but from what?
About 150 million years ago, a long-necked sauropod came down with a respiratory infection. The rest is history...or is it?
Watch chimps use insects as medicine on one another
Many animals practice what looks like self-medication. A new report suggests that chimps tend wounds with insects, often treating each other.
The “mean wolf to friendly dog” domestication story might be wrong
The story of dog domestication is one of converting the wild wolf into man's nicer, smarter, best friend. It might be all wrong.
Awareness of death and other incredible examples of animal intelligence
Elephants mourn the dead, dolphins give names to each other, and insects can recognize faces. The animal world is much smarter than we think.
Why is it called a murder of crows?
Admit it: you have no idea why a group of crows is called a murder. Here's why.
The invasion of Antarctica: Non-native species threaten the world’s last wilderness
With around 5,000 summertime residents, increased tourism, and a warming planet, it is becoming difficult to protect Antarctica from invasion.
What the Gombe Chimpanzee War taught us about human nature
From 1974 to 1978, the chimps of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania were at war with each other, the first time conservationists saw chimps engage in calculated, cold-blooded killing.
Why “∆G = ∆H – T∆S” is the most important equation in biochemistry
∆G = ∆H - T∆S is one of the most abstract formulas in science, but it is also one of the most important. Without it, life cannot exist.
These scientists are attempting to answer the phenomenon of tuskless African elephants
Tusks suddenly became a liability, even though in natural circumstances, tusks are very useful.
Why “carbon dioxide + water → glucose + oxygen” is the most important equation in biology
Life largely owes its existence to this equation. Be sure to hug your house plant today.
The world’s largest organism is slowly being eaten by deer
Pando, which is Latin for "I spread," is a single organism spanning some 106 acres.
New Himalayan snake species identified thanks to Instagram
A new snake becomes Instagram famous after its accidental discovery by a graduate student going on a nature walk in northern India.
Most dog breeds are dangerously inbred
Genetic profiles of many dog breeds appear as if siblings mated.
Invasion biology: Why intelligent alien life is not the biggest threat from space
Forget little green men: These scientists say we should be more worried about little green germs.
Biosignatures: Phony fossils complicate the hunt for life on Mars
Purely physical and chemical processes can deceive us into thinking that life is present, when it actually is not.