Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Plants
Promiscuous orchids
When pollinators aren't loyal to a single species of orchid, the plants maintain their species integrity by stymieing reproduction.
- Paleontology
Twice upon a Time
New fossil finds suggest that the complex features of mammals originated earlier than previously thought and might even have evolved independently in different mammalian lineages.
- Animals
Hidden Depths: Antarctic krill startle deep-ocean scientists
The first camera lowered 3,000 meters to the seabed off the coast of Antarctica videoed what biologists identify as the supposedly upper-ocean species of Antarctic krill.
- Animals
Great spots for white sharks
The great white sharks of the eastern Pacific may be genetically isolated from the world's other white sharks, and tagging data reveal that the animals stick to specific routes and destinations.
- Ecosystems
Predators return
Warming waters could push new predators into Antarctica's delicate ecosystems.
- Life
Banishing Sense-less Reporting
Scientific reports don't have to be dry, although they all-too-frequently are.
- Animals
People bring both risk and reward to chimps
Tolerating human researchers and ecotourists brought a group of chimpanzees a higher risk of catching human diseases but a lower chance of attacks from poachers.
- Paleontology
From China, the tiniest pterodactyl
Researchers excavating the fossil-rich rocks of northeastern China have discovered yet another paleontological marvel: a flying reptile the size of a sparrow.
- Paleontology
Flying Deaf? Earliest bats probably didn’t echolocate
Fossils of a cardinal-sized creature recently unearthed in western Wyoming suggest that primitive bats developed the ability to fly before they could track their prey with biological sonar.
- Animals
Bird fads weaken sexual selection
There's a new look for a hot male among lark buntings every year.
- Ecosystems
Spread of nonnative fish mirrors human commerce
Invasions of foreign freshwater fish are more common in areas with relatively high economic activity, suggesting that humans are a part of the problem.
- Animals
Whales Drink Sounds: Hearing may use an ancient path
Sounds can travel to a whale's ears through its throat, an acoustic pathway that might be ancient in the whale lineage.
