A crucial link in the life cycle of one parasitic plant may be found in a surprising place — the bellies of the descendants of an ancient line of rabbits.…
Category: Life
Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl
Today’s red jungle fowl — the wild forebears of the domesticated chicken — are becoming more chickenlike. New research suggests that a large proportion of the wild fowl’s DNA has…
Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses
New Year, new viral diet — literally. Tiny, pond-dwelling Halteria ciliates are virovores, able to survive on a virus-only diet, researchers report December 27 in Proceedings of the National Academy…
Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses
New Year, new viral diet — literally. Tiny, pond-dwelling Halteria ciliates are virovores, able to survive on a virus-only diet, researchers report December 27 in Proceedings of the National Academy…
These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles
Animals cover themselves in all kinds of unsavory fluids to keep cool. Humans sweat, kangaroos spit and some birds will urinate on themselves to survive hot days. It turns out…
Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’
How Far the Light ReachesSabrina ImblerLittle, Brown & Co., $27 In How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler shows us that the ocean, in all its mystery and dazzling glory,…
Harbinger Issue #2: Race, Racism, and White Supremacy
After two years of pandemic delay, we’re very excited to announce that the new issue of Harbinger: a Journal of Social Ecology has now been released. issue features nine timely contributions, all…
50 years ago, scientists sequenced a gene for the first time
Molecular biology’s flower child — Science News, January 6, 1973 During the past several years, some artificial genes have been synthesized…. But no one had unraveled a real gene that dictates…
Meet some of the microbes that give cheeses flavor
Cheese making has been around for thousands of years, and there are now more than 1,000 varieties of cheese worldwide. But what exactly makes some cheeses like Parmesan taste fruity…
Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually
Given enough time, jumping beans will always find their way out of the sun. Jumping beans, which are really seed pods with twitchy moth larvae inside, hop around in a…
