Physiology
- Life
Fiber optics in mammals’ eyes separate colors
Specialized cells in the retina separate different wavelengths of light to enable sharp vision during the day without harming night vision.
- Environment
Microplastics lodge in crab gills and guts
Crabs can absorb microplastic particles through their gills and by eating polluted mussels.
- Life
Dinos straddled line between cold- and warm-blooded
Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs straddled line between cold- and warm-blood, a new analysis finds.
- Animals
Look beyond pest species to find beauty in cockroaches
A few pest species give the group a bad name, but exotic roaches include an amazing diversity of colors and lifestyles.
- Life
Oxytocin stimulates repair of old mice’s muscles
The naturally produced hormone oxytocin, well known for its role in social bonding, may help heal injured muscles in the elderly.
- Life
Hatcheries’ metal can disrupt steelhead magnetic sense
Growing up in magnetic fields distorted by pipes and electronics confounds young fish’s inherited map sense.
- Animals
Why tree-hugger koalas are cool
Drooping against bark during a heat wave could save koalas from overheating.
- Life
Starchy foods more filling than fiber, lab tests suggest
Tests of gut microbe digestion of potato starch and fiber suggest that moving away from grass-heavy ancestral diets may not be the reason for obesity epidemic.
- Animals
Fly more, live longer
An examination of animal lifestyles reveals that the most important factor linked to longer life is the ability to fly.
- Animals
Narwhal has the strangest tooth in the sea
Sometimes called the unicorn of the sea, the male narwhal’s tusk is actually a tooth. Narwhals detect changes in water salinity using only these tusks, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
With help from pig tissue, people regrow muscle
Noncellular material implanted in patients attracts stem cells to fix injuries.
- Life
Human noses know more than 1 trillion odors
Sense of smell displays a vast reach in study of people’s ability to distinguish between scents.
