Animals
- Neuroscience
Scientists remotely controlled the social behavior of mice with light
New devices — worn as headsets and backpacks — rely on optogenetics, in which bursts of light toggle neurons, to control mouse brain activity.
- Animals
A common antibiotic slows a mysterious coral disease
Applying the antibiotic amoxicillin to infected lesions halted tissue death in corals for at least 11 months after treatment.
- Animals
Mantis shrimp start practicing their punches at just 9 days old
The fastest punches in the animal kingdom probably belong to mantis shrimp, who begin unleashing these attacks just over a week after hatching.
- Animals
This praying mantis inflates a strange pheromone gland to lure mates
Researchers stumbled across a first among mantises: an inflatable organ that spreads pheromones, helping mates find each other in the dark rainforest.
- Paleontology
‘Monkeydactyl’ may be the oldest known creature with opposable thumbs
A newly discovered pterosaur that lived during the Jurassic Period could have used its flexible digits to climb trees like a monkey.
- Animals
Discarded COVID-19 PPE such as masks can be deadly to wildlife
From entanglements to ingestion, two biologists are documenting the impact of single-use masks and gloves on animals around the world.
- Oceans
Corals’ hidden genetic diversity corresponds to distinct lifestyles
Observation and DNA analysis expose identical reef corals as distinct species with unique ecologies, suggesting much greater coral biodiversity.
- Animals
How researchers can keep birds safe as U.S. wind farms expand
Tracking bald eagle abundance and migrating whooping cranes provides a clearer picture of where wind turbines could be safely built.
- Animals
Tiny crystals give a plain fish twinkling, colorful dots under light
Fishes’ flashing photonic crystals may provide inspiration for ultra-miniaturized sensors that work in a living body.
- Life
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements
A lion yawn is contagious, and when lions start yawning together, they start moving together. Synchronization may be key for group hunters like lions.
- Life
Flamboyant fishes evolved an explosion of color as seas rose and fell
Fluctuations in sea level due to cycling ice ages may have powered an engine in tropical seas that pumped out gaudy fish species.
- Animals
Weather radar shows 30 metric tons of grasshoppers swarmed Las Vegas one night
Everything’s glitzier in Las Vegas. The most intensely lit U.S. city shows the impact of artificial light on insects on a megascale.
