Search Results for: Ants
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- Animals
This spider literally flips for its food
The Australian ant-slayer spider’s acrobatics let it feast on insects twice its size, a new study shows,
By Freda Kreier - Health & Medicine
A monkey survived two years with a miniature pig’s kidney
A new study is the latest in a string of efforts seeking to use other animal species to solve the global organ shortage in people.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp
When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.
By Jake Buehler - Life
An award-winning photo captures a ‘zombie’ fungus erupting from a fly
The winner of the 2022 BMC Ecology and Evolution photo competition captures a macabre cycle of life and death in the Peruvian Amazon.
- Plants
This pitcher plant species sets its deathtraps underground
Scientists didn’t expect the carnivorous, eggplant-shaped pitchers to be sturdy enough to survive below the surface.
By Meghan Rosen - Science & Society
Here are 7 new science museums and exhibitions to visit in 2023
The Grand Egyptian Museum is slated to open, as well as new exhibitions dedicated to space travel, the Galápagos Islands and more.
By Erin Wayman - Animals
How metal-infused jaws give some ants an exceptionally sharp bite
Some small animals make cuts, tears and punctures that they couldn’t otherwise do using body parts reinforced with metals such as zinc and manganese.
By Jake Buehler - Animals
Do gophers farm roots? It’s not as clear as viral articles claim
Pocket gophers aerate and fertilize the soil in a practice that encourages rudimentary food production, researchers claim. But not everyone agrees.
- Life
European fire ant chemicals may send spiders scurrying away
Black widows and some other common spider species avoid spaces where fire ants once roamed, suggesting the insects could inspire a spider repellent.
- Plants
These ferns may be the first plants known to share work like ants
Staghorn ferns grow in massive colonies where individual plants contribute different jobs. This may make them “eusocial,” like ants or termites.
By Jake Buehler - Neuroscience
How a scientist-artist transformed our view of the brain
The book ‘The Brain in Search of Itself’ chronicles the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who discovered that the brain is made up of discrete cells.
- 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.