Life
- Microbes
This giant bacterium lives up to its name
The newly discovered Thiomargarita magnifica is about the size of your eyelash and is surprisingly complex.
- Tech
Like an octopus, this glove lets fingers grip slippery objects
The octopus-inspired suckers on each fingertip grab and release objects on demand.
- Animals
Why these jumping toadlets get confused mid-flight
The tiny pumpkin toadlet tumbles when it jumps. Its ear canals may be too tiny to help the animal track its motion through the air.
- Plants
Catnip’s insect-repelling powers grow as Puss chews on it
Damaging the leaves boosts the plant’s chemical defenses — and their appeal to cats.
- Animals
Sleepy mosquitoes prefer dozing over dining
Mosquitoes repeatedly shaken to prevent slumber lagged behind well-rested ones when offered a leg to feed on.
- Animals
Butterfly ‘tails’ might be part of an escape tactic
Slender, tail-like extensions on their wings may help some butterflies survive attacks by hungry predators.
- Health & Medicine
To test for COVID-19, a dog’s nose can match a nose swab
Dogs can sniff out COVID-19 cases as well as PCR tests can — and are better at ID’ing cases having no symptoms, a new study finds.
- Animals
Some Greenland polar bears are surviving with very little sea ice
The ‘glacial mélange’ on which they’ve come to rely — a mix of ice, snow and slush — could be a temporary refuge for some polar bears.
- Animals
Palm-size marsupials may face extinction from wild ‘house’ cats
After surviving Australian bushfires, the Kangaroo Island dunnart is losing ground as it's targeted by hungry predators.
- Brain
Why teens can’t help tuning out mom’s voice
Teens often tune out what their mom is saying. Normal brain changes during adolescence could explain why, new research shows.
- Animals
‘Mystery monkey’ could mean its parent’s species may be in trouble
Changes to monkeys’ habitats — including some forest loss to oil palm plantations — might explain why this animal’s parents mated.
- Fossils
Bright-colored feathers may have topped pterosaurs’ heads
Fossil remains of a flying reptile hint that their vibrant crests may have originated 250 million years ago in a common ancestor with dinosaurs.
