Unusual prey: Spiders eating snakes
There are spiders that eat snakes. Observations of snake-eating spiders have been reported around the world. Two researchers from Basel and the US consolidated and analyzed over 300 reports of this unusual predation strategy......»»
Contaminated soil landslide threatens Danish village
A small hamlet in the west of Denmark is facing an unusual existential threat: a landslide of contaminated waste that is bearing down on the community and a nearby river......»»
Robo-dinosaur scares grasshoppers to shed light on why dinos evolved feathers
The feathers may have helped dinosaurs frighten and flush out prey. Enlarge / Grasshoppers, beware! Robopteryx is here to flush you from your hiding place. (credit: Jinseok Park, Piotr Jablonski et al., 2024) Scientists.....»»
Deep learning forecasts Antarctic sea ice trends for 2024—projected to remain close to historical lows
The year 2023 stands out as the warmest year on record globally, accompanied by the highest recorded ocean temperatures. Amidst these extreme and unusual climatic conditions, Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE), after breaking the second consecutive satel.....»»
"Time to eat": Videos show that toe-tapping by frogs may be a strategy to draw out prey
It is well known that some species of frogs tap their posterior toes as they are seeking prey; this can be seen in many videos posted online. However, only a few studies to date have looked at the tapping habit itself, and not much is known about the.....»»
Animals keep eating precious plants—we used "smell misinformation" to keep them away
In places where we need to protect valuable plants—whether for ecological or economic reasons—local herbivores can cause significant damage......»»
Asian fishing cats caught snacking on chicks from tree-top nests
South Asian fishing cats were observed raiding bird nests in tall trees for the first time. This rare and highly unusual behavior was caught on motion cameras set up in tree canopies across northeast Bangladesh to survey bird colonies. Scientists hop.....»»
What happens when you reintroduce a predator to a conservation area? These quolls were put to the task
In the first reintroduction of western quolls to a fenced conservation reserve, researchers from UNSW and Arid Recovery watched closely to measure their impacts on local prey species. While predation by quolls and the impacts of drought caused declin.....»»
Nature"s DNA traps: Spider webs put new spin on wildlife research
Spiders might be silent heroes in helping us understand and keep track of animals, with new Curtin research revealing their webs act like natural traps for tiny bits of environmental DNA (eDNA) from vertebrates, which could change how we learn about.....»»
New method for incorporating structurally unusual amino acids into proteins
A team of biochemists at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge has developed a new method to incorporate structurally unusual amino acids into proteins by using bacteria. The method is described in the journal Natu.....»»
Your kid saw something totally inappropriate online. Here"s what to do next.
Help your kid feel safe by taking these four steps. If your kid has gone online more than a few times, chances are they've seen or encountered something inappropriate. That could be pornography, violence, bullying, disordered eating, messages f.....»»
When conditions cool down, a bacterial prey species becomes the predator
In a new study, two species of bacteria grown in a lab reversed their predator-prey relationship after one species was grown at a lower temperature. Marie Vasse of MIVEGEC, France, and colleagues have published these findings in PLOS Biology......»»
Don"t blame the sharks: Research reveals why more hooked tarpon are being eaten
In wave-making research recently published in Marine and Coastal Fisheries, a team of researchers, led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has quantified the rate at which great hammerhead sharks are eating Atlantic tarpon hooke.....»»
Scientists spin naturalistic silk from artificial spider gland
Researchers have succeeded in creating a device that spins artificial spider silk that closely matches what spiders naturally produce. The artificial silk gland was able to re-create the complex molecular structure of silk by mimicking the various ch.....»»
Salt, microbes, acid and heat in food preservation
In an era of grocery stores and home refrigerators, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that, for most of history, people have been bound by the seasonality of food. This reality has long presented humanity with a conundrum: how to keep eating after.....»»
Q&A: Veganuary—the environmental benefits of a low and no meat diet
Dr. Mike Clark, Director of the Food Program at the Oxford Smith School, discusses the environmental impacts of eating meat, the key research questions we still need to answer, and what individuals can do today......»»
Investigating the role of "random walks" in particle diffusion
Several recent experiments identify unusual patterns in particle diffusion, hinting at some underlying complexity in the process which physicists have yet to discover. Through new analysis published in The European Physical Journal B, Adrian Pacheco-.....»»
A window into plant evolution: The unusual genetic journey of lycophytes
An international team of researchers has uncovered a remarkable genetic phenomenon in lycophytes, which are similar to ferns and among the oldest land plants. Their study, recently published in the journal PNAS, reveals that these plants have maintai.....»»
Not all underwater reefs are made of coral—the US has created artificial reefs from sunken ships, radio towers and more
When people hear about underwater reefs, they usually picture colorful gardens created from coral. But some reefs are anchored to much more unusual foundations......»»
Study provides rare field-based evidence of opportunistic cannibalism in mini marsupial
The mouse-sized marsupial famed for its mighty mating until it dies has now been observed eating its own dead......»»
Dampened desire: Wolf spiders change their mating strategy after it rains
If you hate the rain, you have something in common with wolf spiders......»»