Animals
- Anthropology
Rare books covered with seal skin hint at a medieval trade network
The furry seal skins may have made their way to French monasteries from as far away as Greenland.
- Life
Gila monsters may struggle to survive climate change
The Mojave Desert may lose and gain suitable habitat for Gila monsters. But the unathletic reptiles might be mostly stuck in the waning oases.
- Genetics
‘Woolly mice’ were just a start. De-extinction still faces many hurdles
Scientists created transgenic mice with woolly mammoth–like traits. But does it really bring us closer to bringing back woolly mammoths?
- Animals
You might be reading your dog’s moods wrong
A dog's physical cues often take a back seat to environmental ones, skewing humans' perceptions, a small study suggests.
- Animals
Is that shark ticking? In a first, a shark is recorded making noise
The ocean can be a symphony of fish grunts, hums and growls. Now add tooth-clacking sharks to the score.
- Animals
A tardigrade protein helped reduce radiation damage in mice
Mouse cells tweaked to produce the tardigrade protein incurred less DNA damage than unaltered cells — hinting at a new tool for cancer patient care.
- Agriculture
How silicon turns tomato plants into mean, green, pest-killing machines
Treated plants fight pests without the need for toxic pesticides, oozing a "larval toffee" that stunts tomato pinworms’ growth and attracts predators.
- Animals
Plastic ‘fossils’ help scientists reconstruct the history of bird nests
Plastic waste has let common coots reuse nests year after year. Scientists have now used the trash layers to date how old nests are.
- Animals
Hammerhead sharks’ diets may affect if they roam or stay home
Understanding hammerhead sharks’ food preferences could aid efforts to protect the critically endangered fish.
- Animals
Gray seals may sense their own blood oxygen levels
The seals’ ability to detect the amount of oxygen in their blood may help them make diving decisions and avoid drowning.
- Animals
Stinky penguin poop strikes fear into the hearts of Antarctic krill
A chemical in Adélie penguin guano may have cued krill to take evasive maneuvers in lab tests.
- Animals
Some of Sydney’s koalas are chlamydia-free, but still at risk
Southwestern Sydney's koalas have avoided the chlamydia outbreak threatening the entire species. But their isolation has left them extremely inbred.
