Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
An incredibly resilient coral in the Great Barrier Reef offers hope for the future
At more than 400 years old, a massive coral off the coast of Australia has endured as many as 80 cyclones and 99 bleaching events.
- Animals
Female hummingbirds may sport flashy feathers to avoid being harassed
Some female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds boast bright blue plumage that’s similar to males. The colors may help females blend in to avoid attacks.
- Paleontology
This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying
The most intact fossil of a tapejarid pterosaur ever found yields new insight into how the ancient reptile lived.
- Anthropology
Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex
Ancient DNA from a hunter-gatherer skeleton points to earlier-than-expected human arrivals on Southeast Asian islands known as Wallacea.
- Science & Society
Racism lurks in names given to plants and animals. That’s starting to change
Racist legacies linger in everyday lingo for birds, bugs and more. Some scientists see the chance to change that.
- Animals
Frog and toad pupils mainly come in seven different shapes
Analyzing over 3,200 species revealed that the colorful eyes of frogs and toads have pupils shaped as slits, diamonds, fans and more.
- Animals
A giant tortoise was caught stalking, killing and eating a baby bird
Video captures the first documented instance of a tortoise hunting another animal.
- Paleontology
How fossilization preserved a 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab’s brain
A 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab’s brain was preserved in clay, thanks to an uncommon fossilization process that protected the fragile neural tissues.
- Animals
These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs
Greater sac-winged bat pups babble their way through learning their rich vocal repertoire, similar to how human infants babble before speaking.
- Plants
A well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret carnivore
A species of false asphodel wildflower snags prey with gluey, enzyme-secreting hairs, leaving a trail of insect corpses on its flowering stem.
- Animals
Sunbirds’ dazzling feathers are hot, in both senses of the word
Iridescent feathers reflect vivid colors. But they also become scorching hot in the sunlight, a study finds.
- Life
Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress
In a lab experiment, probiotics prevented the death of corals under heat stress, suggesting beneficial microbes could help save ailing reefs.
