Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Mad Deer Disease?
Chronic wasting disease, once just an obscure brain ailment of deer and elk in a small patch of the West, is turning up in new places and raising troubling questions about risks.
- Ecosystems
Worm Attacks: Invading earthworms threaten rare U.S. fern
An unusual study of the effects of invading earthworms on North American plants finds that the exotics might be on the way to killing off a rare fern.
- Animals
Ear for Killers: Seals discern foes’ from neighbor-whales’ calls
Harbor seals eavesdrop on killer whales and can tell the harmless neighborhood fish eaters from roving gangs with a taste for fresh seal.
- Animals
Tadpoles kill by supersuction
A high-speed video shows tiny African tadpoles that catch their prey in a manner unlike that used by any other frog larvae: by shooting out a tubular mouth for superfast suction.
- Animals
Lizard’s Choice: Mating test pits physique versus domain
When she decides to move in, is it him or is it his real estate?
- Plants
X-rayed Flowers
For new insights into the delicate architecture of flowers, take an X-ray view. Albert G. Richards, who taught dental radiography at the University of Michigan, presents a gallery of unfamiliar views of familiar flowers, from the hidden archways of an iris to the complex plumbing of columbine spurs. Go to: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~agrxray/gallery.html
- Animals
Fish Fraud: Cleaners show off before biting clients
Some of the reef fish that make their living by nibbling parasites off other fish may be luring clients into scams by offering free massages.
- Animals
Upside Way Down: Video turns fish story on its head
The first video of whipnose anglerfish reveals them swimming upside down and trolling for prey on the 5,000-meter deep ocean floor.
- Ecosystems
Insects, pollen, seeds travel wildlife corridors
Strips of habitat boost insect movement, plant pollination, and seed dispersal among patches of the same ecosystem.
- Paleontology
Trackway site shows dinosaur on the go
Scientists say that a sediment-filled, bathtub-shape depression found at one of North America's most significant dinosaur trackway sites is the first recognized evidence of urination in dinosaurs.
- Paleontology
Curved claws hint at pterosaur habits
A study of the claws of flying reptiles known as pterosaurs suggests that some of the creatures may have walked like present-day herons and used their wing fingers to hold prey.
- Paleontology
Mosasaurs were born at sea, not in safe harbors
Newly discovered fossils of prehistoric aquatic reptiles known as mosasaurs suggest that the creatures gave birth in midocean rather than in near-shore sanctuaries as previously suspected.
