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Biology

CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has the power to improve the lives of millions of people.

Trending Today

Two Scientists Receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Their Discovery of CRISPR

The award-winning researchers, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, harnessed the power of gene-editing technology and revolutionized biology

Sea turtle eggs, rumored to have aphrodisiac properties, are frequently poached from Costa Rican beaches

3-D Printed Sea Turtle Eggs Reveal Poaching Routes

Scientists put GPS locators inside plastic eggs to find trafficking destinations in Costa Rica

A small-banded kukri snake seen with its head thrust inside the body of an Asian common toad. This snake does this to feed on its prey's internal organs, and, perhaps, to avoid the poisonous milky secretions that can be seen on the toad's back.

New Research

This Snake Slurps Organs of Living Toads in Grisly Feeding Strategy

Researchers say no other snakes are known to feed this way, adding that the snakes may feed this way to avoid toxins secreted from the toads’ backs

Pollinators perceive the higher levels of UV-absorbing pigments as a darker hue, which could be confusing when they try to scope out colorful flowers to land on.

New Research

Flowers Are Changing Color in Response to Climate Change

As temperatures and ozone levels rise, blossoms are adjusting their UV pigmentation

The results of a new study suggest crows are aware of their own sensory perceptions, a hallmark of what's called primary or sensory consciousness.

New Research

Do Crows Possess a Form of Consciousness?

New study suggests the corvids may join humans and some primates as one of the rare animals capable of having subjective experiences

No longer masked by city noise, San Francisco sparrows are singing a new tune

The Pandemic Shutdown in San Francisco Had Sparrows Singing Sexier Tunes

Birds adapted to singing above the urban noise chirped lower, softer melodies

A deadly Australian funnel-web spider bares its fangs.

New Research

Deadly Spiders Evolved Venom to Safely Search for Love

Male funnel-web spiders evolved deadly venom to protect themselves from vertebrate predators when they leave the safety of their burrows to find a mate

Are there other imaging agents hiding in plain sight?

Innovation for Good

Could Tattoo Ink Be Used to Detect Cancer?

A new study on medical imaging agents shows common pigments and dyes could help with early diagnosis

Starlet anemone grow tentacle arms based on how much food they intake.

These Sea Anemones Grow Limbs When They Eat

The starlet sea anemone is the first known species to translate food into limbs

The cave angel fish's unique pelvic shape was first documented in 2016. Its uncommon anatomy allows it to walk with all four appendages the way a salamander or a lizard might.

New Research

Study Finds Ten Species of Fish That May Have a Secret Talent for Walking on Land

The strange fish may help researchers envision the gaits of Earth’s first terrestrial vertebrates

A photo of a highland wild dog in Papua, Indonesia. A new genetic study confirms that these wild dogs are in fact a surviving population of the New Guinea singing dog, which was thought to be extinct in the wild.

New Research

Thought to Be Extinct, New Guinea’s Singing Dogs Found Alive in the Wild

A new genetic study confirms that the unique dogs, thought to be extinct in the wild, still exist outside of human care

An artist's rendering of the 250-million-year-old animal Lystrosaurus in a hibernation-like state.

Hibernation May Be a 250-Million-Year-Old Survival Trick

Paleontologists studying this strange creature’s tusks say they’ve found evidence the animal slowed its metabolism during hard times

Cars line up at a drive-in coronavirus testing site in Miami Gardens, Florida, in late June. Testing in many states has been hampered by bottlenecks and long delays, problems that could be eased by the rapid, simple tests scientists are now developing.

Covid-19

Scientists Are Racing to Develop Paper-Based Tests for Covid-19

Inexpensive—and potentially at-home—tools could take only minutes to tell if someone is infected

Fabien Cousteau's Proteus will be the first underwater research habitat built in decades.

Jacques Cousteau’s Grandson Wants to Build the International Space Station of the Sea

Off the coast of Curaçao, at a depth of 60 feet, aquanaut Fabien Cousteau is looking to create the world’s largest underwater research habitat

A unique moss species thrives underneath translucent quartz rocks in the hot, dry Mojave Desert while its neighbors shrivel.

New Research

Desert Moss Beats Heat by Growing Under Quartz Crystals

Researchers find the translucent rocks keep the moss moist while letting just enough light pass through its milky interior

Viburnum titus is a common landscaping plant in Europe and the United States, but its blue fruits hadn't been closely studied until now.

New Research

Structural Complexity Gives This Fruit Its Metallic Blue Color

The super blue viburnum fruit gets its hue not just from blue pigment, but from the structure of its fat

A plant press used by researchers in the Hengduan Mountains

How Ancient Monsoons and Tectonic Shifts Shaped This Flowering Mountain Hotspot

The stunning biodiversity of alpine plants in China’s Hengduan Mountains can be traced back 30 million years, according to a new study

Two sociable weaver birds being recognized by a new artificial intelligence-powered software.

New Research

This A.I. Can Recognize Individual Birds of the Same Species

Humans can’t reliably tell birds of the same species apart, limiting our ability to study their behavior, but the new A.I. is 90 percent accurate

The comparatively massive female anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) with her tiny mate permanently fused to her belly.

New Research

Anglerfish Drop Their Immune Defenses to Find Love

Male anglerfish are major clingers. To avoid mistaking mates as foreign tissue, the deep sea couples lost part of their immune system in evolution

Sperm swimming illusion when seen from above. The sperm tails seems to move symmetrically from one side to another. This view on how sperm moves was established since first observed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1677, more than three centuries ago.

Researchers Discover How Human Sperm Really Swim

A new 3-D microscopy study overturns hundreds of years of reproductive science

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