1,498 results
- Animals
Gut bacteria let vulture bees eat rotting flesh without getting sick
Acid-producing bacteria in the gut of vulture bees let these “weirdos of the bee world” safely snack on animal carcasses.
- Animals
Sea urchin skeletons’ splendid patterns may strengthen their structure
“Voronoi” geometric patterns found in sea urchin skeletons yield strong yet lightweight structures that could inspire the creation of new materials.
- Animals
A clever molecular trick extends the lives of these ant queens
Ant queens typically live much longer than their workers by blocking a key part of a molecular pathway implicated in aging, a new study suggests.
- Animals
The Sonoran Desert toad can alter your mind — it’s not the only animal
Their psychedelic and other potentially mind-bending compounds didn't evolve to give people a trip.
- Life
Long genital spines on male wasps can save their lives
A male wasp’s genital spines can save his life in an encounter with a scary tree frog, a new study shows.
- Animals
A new book shows how animals are already coping with climate change
‘Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid’ takes a clear-eyed look at future of animal life.
- Animals
Bee larvae drum with their butts, which may confuse predatory wasps
Dual percussion instruments — one on the head, the other on the rear — give mason bee larvae a peculiar musical gift that may be a tool for survival.
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- Science & Society
Why do some people succeed when others fail? Outliers provide clues
A close look at outliers — people or communities that defy expectations — reveals what could be.
- Plants
A well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret carnivore
A species of false asphodel wildflower snags prey with gluey, enzyme-secreting hairs, leaving a trail of insect corpses on its flowering stem.
- Life
Wild bees add about $1.5 billion to yields for just six U.S. crops
Native bees help pollinate blueberries, cherries and other crops on commercial farms.
- Life
Pollen-deprived bumblebees may speed up plant blooming by biting leaves
In a pollen shortage, some bees nick holes in tomato leaves that accelerate flowering, and pollen production, by weeks.
