Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Plants
Mommy Greenest
Green leafy moms take care of their offspring in ways that go beyond wrapping them in nice, snug seed coats and packing a nutritious lunch for them.
- Animals
Is eyeless sea creature fishing with a red light?
Researchers off the coast of California have captured three deep-water siphonophores, relatives of jellyfish, and observed in the lab that the creatures twitch little red lights that could be lures for fish.
- Plants
Honey, We Shrank the Snow Lotus: Picking big plants reduces species’ height
Years of harvesting the larger plants of a Himalayan wildflower used in traditional medicines may be driving the evolution of a stubbier plant form.
- Animals
More junk makes for better dads
A new analysis links dutiful fatherhood in prairie voles to a stretch of DNA once dismissed as meaningless.
- Animals
He Clones, She Clones: Dad, mom ants as different species
In the little fire ant, males and queens clone themselves, the closest science has gotten to declaring males and females as separate species.
- Plants
Long search reveals cell receptor for plant growth
More than 70 years after biologists identified the important plant growth hormone auxin, they have finally found a cell-receptor molecule for it.
- Animals
Save the Tapir
Tapirs are relatives of horses and rhinos. Sometimes known as “living fossils,” these unusual animals inhabit jungle and forest lands in Central and South America and Southeast Asia. The Tapir Gallery provides information about tapirs, including images and an extensive bibliography. A student section of the Web site, produced by the Tapir Preservation Fund, provides […]
- Animals
Dee for Danger: Chickadees add notes as threat grows
Chickadees change their alarm calls depending on how serious a lurking predator seems.
- Paleontology
Killer Bite: Ancient, tiny mammal probably used venom
Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient, mouse-size mammal that seems to have had a venomous bite.
- Paleontology
Newfound dinosaur wasn’t sticking its neck out
Fossils of a new, 10-meter-long sauropod species excavated in South America suggest that, unlike most of its massive kin, the creature had a relatively short neck.
- Ecosystems
Tallgrass Prairie
The Openlands Project played a key role in converting the former Joliet Arsenal in Illinois into the first national tallgrass prairie. This Web site traces the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie’s history and provides a variety of classroom activities for students in grades 1 to 12. Lessons include plant investigations, predator and prey relationships, prairie climate, […]
- Animals
Sponge Moms: Dolphins learn tool use from their mothers
Dolphins that carry sponges on their beaks while looking for food may have learned the trick from their mothers instead of just inheriting a sponge-use gene.
