Frogs use brains or camouflage to evade predators
Throughout evolution, prey animals have adopted a range of strategies to evade their predators. But often these elaborate strategies come at a cost. For example, looking out for and fleeing from predators involves a great deal of cognitive capacity a.....»»
Male and female crab spiders found to "cooperate" to mimic a flower to fool prey and predators
A pair of environmental scientists at Yunnan University, in China, has found an instance of a pair of spiders, one male, the other female, working together to create the image of a flower, thereby fooling both prey and predators......»»
Research uncovers a rare resin fossil find: A spider that aspires to be an ant
Arachnophobia can make humans flee at the sight of a brown recluse, black widow or even a daddy long legs, but animal predators of spiders know no such fear......»»
In a first, evolutionary biologists have identified a gene that influences visual preferences in tropical butterflies
Tropical Heliconius butterflies are well known for the bright color patterns on their wings. These striking color patterns not only scare off predators—the butterflies are poisonous and are distasteful to birds—but are also important signals duri.....»»
The most prevalent malware behaviors and techniques
An analysis of 100,000+ Windows malware samples has revealed the most prevalent techniques used by malware developers to successfully evade defenses, escalate privileges, execute the malware, and assure its persistence. Malware tactics and techniques.....»»
Characterizing salps as predators of marine microbes
A huge fraction of global flows of carbon and other nutrients pass through marine microbes. Little is known about their causes of death, however. This information determines where those nutrients will go......»»
New archive of ancient human brains challenges misconceptions of soft tissue preservation
Soft tissue preservation in the geological record is relatively rare, and except where deliberate intervention halts the process of decay (like embalming or freezing), the survival of entire organs is particularly unusual. The spontaneous preservatio.....»»
"Atypical" gathering of "rare" deep-sea predators spotted for first time in Panama
Deep underwater, a group of elusive predators gathered off the coast of Panama. The gathering was "atypical" and a first of its kind for the area......»»
Why do tree frogs lay their eggs on the ground?
When it comes to laying eggs, tree frogs have some unusual habits. Instead of always laying their eggs on tree branches where they usually live, they often lay their eggs on the ground. But why would a tree frog do this, especially when it puts its e.....»»
DNA parasite now plays key role in making critical nerve cell protein
An RNA has been adopted to help the production of myelin, a key nerve protein. Enlarge (credit: alex-mit) Human brains (and the brains of other vertebrates) are able to process information faster because of myelin, a fat.....»»
Ford to pay $365 million over effort to evade U.S. import tariffs
Ford Motor will pay $365 million to resolve U.S. allegations it violated a federal tariff law by misclassifying and understating the value of hundreds of thousands of its Transit Connect vehicles......»»
Your Next Job: Brain-Computer Interface Surgeon
When everyone's hooking their brains up to computers, we'll need BCI surgeons to install the hardware......»»
Research reveals traits that make fish prey tasty to tuna
A cross-border science collaboration has yielded a global database that will help researchers understand how climate change is affecting ocean predators like the albacore tuna—which also happens to be an important food source for people around the.....»»
New analysis uncovers major issues with earlier suggestions that Spinosaurus pursued prey underwater
For years, controversy has swirled around how a Cretaceous-era, sail-backed dinosaur—the giant Spinosaurus aegyptiacus—hunted its prey. Spinosaurus was among the largest predators ever to prowl the Earth and one of the most adapted to water, but.....»»
Birds, beetles, bugs could help replace pesticides: Study
Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, researchers said Wednesday......»»
Researchers develop amphibian-inspired camouflage skin
Inspired by amphibians such as the wood frog, investigators designed and synthesized a new type of camouflage skin involving one-dimensional photonic crystal structures assembled in three-dimensional flexible gels......»»
Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration
Jellyfish can't do much besides swim, sting, eat, and breed. They don't even have brains. Yet, these simple creatures can easily journey to the depths of the oceans in a way that humans, despite all our sophistication, cannot......»»
Butterflies mimic each other"s flight behavior to avoid predators, show scientists
Researchers have shown that inedible species of butterfly that mimic each others' color patterns have also evolved similar flight behaviors to warn predators and avoid being eaten......»»
Native animals are easy prey after a fire. Could artificial refuges save them?
Australia is home to some of the most spectacular and enigmatic wildlife on Earth. Much of it, however, is being eaten by two incredibly damaging invasive predators: the feral cat and the red fox......»»
Predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks, scientists discover
Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean's top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study reported in the journal Current.....»»
Big lemming populations are important for far more than just predators
The number of lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) in the mountains can fluctuate sharply from one year to the next. Years when populations explode are called lemming years. These population explosions are important for many other species. More predators and bir.....»»