Biology
Move over bears. Fat Marmot Week puts a spotlight on the alpine rodents
Last winter was tough for marmots living high in the Colorado mountains, where researchers say two-thirds of one population died while hibernating because of insufficient snow cov…
Twenty years and 7,500 fossils reveal what blurs Earth's marine fossil record
In productive marine environments, a square meter (10.8 square feet) of seafloor can be perforated by hundreds to thousands of isolated and interconnected tunnels through which cr…
Scientists uncover environmental cues behind black bear hibernation
New research from Virginia Tech scientists in the College of Natural Resources and Environment provides fresh insight into how environmental conditions influence black bear hibern…
Shark DNA could hold answers to how we age
Age isn't just a number for one of the ocean's top apex predators. It's a mystery University of Georgia researchers are solving. A new UGA study has determined how to estimate the…
Lab-grown brain models gain a sense of place
The human brain is often described as one of the most complex structures in biology, and much of its power comes from how it's organized. Its outer layer, the cerebral cortex, is …
Breaking up of swan families in winter disrupts spring migration
Young Bewick's swans only survive their first spring migration if they stay with their parents long enough. If they lose their parents in winter, they leave later and are unable t…
Antarctic krill fishing is now concentrated in the exact pattern conservation rules were designed to prevent
The companies fishing for Antarctic krill have harvested so much so quickly that the season had to close in August 2026, three months before it was scheduled to end. That's the se…
Forest service detects emerald ash borer in 5 additional counties
The Texas A&M Forest Service has confirmed emerald ash borer in Delta, Erath, Hardin, Walker and Wood counties, continuing the spread of the invasive insect into new areas of Texa…
Ph.D. student's forensic review highlights need for standardized bloodstain pattern classification
A University of Staffordshire Ph.D. student has received national recognition for research that could transform how bloodstain evidence at crime scenes is analyzed. Emma Hook has …
Spinach peptide discovery leads to citrus greening treatment
A citrus greening disease treatment rooted in more than a decade of research at Texas A&M AgriLife Research has reached a milestone on the path to commercial availability. The U.S…
Ebola outbreak: five big questions
On 23 August, it will be 100 days since the Bundibugyo strain was first reported. How did it became the DRC’s most deadly outbreak and what must be done to stop it becoming the wo…
Alice Roberts: ‘By the time I’d finished Richard Dawkins I’d left faith behind’
The TV presenter and author on the evolutionary biologists who inspired her, the genius of George Eliot – and fun with Frog and ToadMy earliest reading memoryThe first books I rem…
Seeing the unseen: A new tool visualizes hidden structures in complex biological data
Modern biology research can now generate valuable data on an unprecedented scale. But there is one major obstacle: making sense of these complex high-dimensional datasets. A team …
Pioneering cancer treatment saves python named Jodie Foster: UK zoo
A British zoo Friday hailed the successful treatment of a cancer-stricken python named after Hollywood star Jodie Foster, who became the first snake to receive an innovative treat…
Week in wildlife: Bat in a toilet, a speeding gull and a bird with shoes
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
UK men with heart disease at higher risk of developing and dying from cancer
Decade-long study finds stark gender difference in outcomes of people with heart diseaseMillions of men with heart disease have a higher risk of developing and dying from cancer, …
Python named Jodie Foster first snake to receive pioneering cancer treatment
Chester zoo resident, 23, ‘back to her usual feisty self’ after electrochemotherapy for tumour in her jawA 15ft (4.5-metre) python is believed to be the first snake in the world t…
Global access to food crops is affected by transport costs and economic inequality
Producing enough food is only one part of ensuring global food security. A new study shows that transport networks and economic inequality are important factors in determining glo…
Scarce emergence of new species drove the decline of African megaherbivores, study suggests
A study by the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH) and the University of Alcalá offers a new explanation for …
Decode the chatter of birds with a neuroscientist
If you're not a bird person, you may not be able to distinguish between the different sounds birds make. Birdsong—the courting and territorial vocalization of songbirds—has been s…
Welcome to the jungle: Newly discovered snake named after Slash from Guns N' Roses
Slash, aka Saul Hudson, is probably best known as the guitarist for Guns N' Roses. But there's more to Slash than his music. He's also a lifelong reptile lover and an avid support…
Messy life-producing cellular process caught in action for first time
All living things have a fleet of tiny copy machines that turn instructions from DNA into RNA molecules responsible for helping build proteins that keep organisms alive. One of th…
Small doses of caustic soda increase biogas production from banana waste
Low concentrations of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) are more efficient than high doses for preparing organic waste for biogas production. This finding increases methane pr…
How membraneless organelles assemble into organized protein hubs
Inside every cell, thousands of proteins must reach the right place at the right time. Helping coordinate this complex logistics network are centriolar satellites—tiny, membranele…