Life

More Stories in Life

  1. Illustration of a Cratonavis bird from 120 million years ago as it catches prey. We see into the bird's wings as if it were an x-ray.
    Paleontology

    A bird with a T. rex head may help reveal how dinosaurs became birds

    The 120-million-year-old Cratonavis zhui, newly discovered in China, had a head like a theropod and body like a modern bird.

    By Aaron Tremper
  2. A microscope image of an adult sea spider made a full recovery after its back half was amputated.
    Animals

    Some young sea spiders can regrow their rear ends

    Juvenile sea spiders can regenerate nearly all of their bottom halves — including muscles and the anus — or make do without them.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  3. An Amami rabbit sitting on the ground.
    Animals

    A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds

    Rabbits aren’t thought of as seed dispersers, but the Amami rabbit of Japan has now been recorded munching on a plant’s seeds and pooping them out.

    By Darren Incorvaia
  4. a wild red jungle fowl, which looks like a colorful rooster, standing in a forest
    Animals

    Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

    Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

    By Jake Buehler
  5. Three Halteria ciliates shown on a blue background
    Microbes

    Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses

    Lab experiments show that Halteria ciliates can chow down solely on viruses. Whether these “virovores” do the same in the wild is unclear.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  6. an echidna standing in tall grass
    Animals

    These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles

    An echidna’s snot bubbles coat the spiny critter’s nose with moisture, which then evaporates and draws heat from the sinus, cooling the blood.

    By Elise Cutts
  7. A purple octopus as it sits on the ocean floor.
    Science & Society

    Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’

    In a collection of essays profiling 10 marine animals, author Sabrina Imbler mixes in stories of their own family, self-discovery, sexuality and healing.

    By Aina Abell
  8. medical illustration of a human body with lungs and a zoom in view that shows Blastomyces fungal spores in the lungs
    Health & Medicine

    4 key things to know about lung infections caused by fungi

    News that three kinds of fungi are more widespread than previously thought prompted reader questions about risk, symptoms and more. We answer them.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  9. an illustration of a DNA helix with hands inserting missing peices on either side
    Genetics

    50 years ago, scientists sequenced a gene for the first time

    Within five decades, scientists went from sequencing a single gene to sequencing the entire human genome.

    By Cassie Martin