We Hiked Along With Cicada Biologists So You Don’t Have To
Researchers only get a chance to study Brood X every 17 years. WIRED came for the ride—and got up close to thousands of hatching cicadas......»»
Alpacas found to be the only mammal to directly inseminate the uterus
A pair of biologists from Mount Holyoke College, working with a colleague from North American Camelid Studies Program, the Nunoa Project, has found that the male alpaca thrusts his penis all the way into the uterus of the female during mating, making.....»»
Theoretical biologists test two modes of social reasoning and find surprising truths in simplicity
Imagine a small village where every action someone takes, good or bad, is quietly followed by ever-attentive, nosy neighbors. An individual's reputation is built through these actions and observations, which determines how others will treat them. The.....»»
Cicada-palooza! Billions of bugs to blanket America
They're loud. They're sexually aroused. And for one special, cacophonous month up to a trillion of them will engulf suburbs and woodlands across America......»»
How evolution has optimized the magnetic sensor in birds
Migratory birds are able to navigate and orientate with astonishing accuracy using various mechanisms, including a magnetic compass. A team led by biologists Dr. Corinna Langebrake and Prof. Dr. Miriam Liedvogel from the University of Oldenburg and t.....»»
Evolutionary biologists show that the color variants of female cuckoos are based on ancient mutations
Every cuckoo is an adopted child—raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. There are two variants of female cuckoos: a gray morp.....»»
In Ecuadoran Amazon, butterflies provide a gauge of climate change
Biologists on a trail in the Ecuadoran Amazon hold their breath as they distribute a foul-smelling delicacy to lure butterflies, critical pollinators increasingly threatened by climate change......»»
Uncovering key players in gene silencing: Insights into plant growth and human diseases
Monash University biologists have shed light on the intricate molecular mechanisms that are responsible for gene silencing induced by expanded repeats in an international study published today in Nature Plants......»»
New study calls into question prior study results that found tumor transmission slowing in Tasmanian devils
A trio of biologists and veterinarians with CRG Barcelona, the University of Cambridge and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, respectively, has found evidence contradicting results found by a prior team of researchers who claimed that.....»»
Biologists reveal how gyrase resolves DNA entanglements
Picture in your mind a traditional "landline" telephone with a coiled cord connecting the handset to the phone. The coiled telephone cord and the DNA double helix that stores the genetic material in every cell in the body have one thing in common; th.....»»
Machine learning model sheds new light on muscle development
Life sciences have never been more digital. To learn more about life processes, biologists are collecting massive quantities of data that computer scientists analyze by means of sophisticated computational models that they develop......»»
Invaders from underground are coming in cicada-geddon. It"s the biggest bug emergence in centuries
Trillions of evolution's bizarro wonders, red-eyed periodical cicadas that have pumps in their heads and jet-like muscles in their rears, are about to emerge in numbers not seen in decades and possibly centuries......»»
Comprehensive study explores influence of gene expression on primate brain evolution
An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published the results of a first-of-its-kind study investigating the links between gene expression and brain evolution across 18 primate sp.....»»
The Earth Will Feast on Dead Cicadas
Two cicada broods, XIX and XIII, are emerging in sync for the first time in 221 years. Birds, trees, and dirt are about to get the banquet of a lifetime......»»
Biologists uncover new species of tiger beetle: Eunota houstoniana
Rice University evolutionary biologist Scott Egan and his research team have unearthed a new species of tiger beetle, deemed Eunota houstoniana, honoring the region of Houston, where it predominantly resides......»»
Biologists determine bacteria sense damage to relatives
Carnegie Mellon University biologists have discovered that Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria behind the cholera disease, can sense when its relatives die. Bacterial cell death is often accompanied by lysis, where the cell explodes, releasing internal cel.....»»
Family trapped on Mt. Hood rescued via Emergency SOS via Satellite
High altitude combined with bad weather caused a group of hikers to become stranded, but they were rescued within 24 hours thanks to SOS via Satellite for iPhone.A family of hikers had hiked from the Salmon River Trailhead of Mt. Hood on Tuesday, ult.....»»
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.....»»
Biologists use machine learning to classify fossils of extinct pollen
In the quest to decipher the evolutionary relationships of extinct organisms from fossils, researchers often face challenges in discerning key features from weathered fossils, or with prioritizing characteristics of organisms for the most accurate pl.....»»
Creating soundscapes increases coral larval settlement, study finds
A team of marine biologists and oceanographers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts, has found that creating soundscapes for coral larvae encourages them to settle on desired coral reefs......»»
Study: Cicadas pee in jets, not droplets. Here’s why that’s kinda weird.
Come for the cicada video, stay for the scaling graphic of urination across animal kingdom. Cicadas' unique urination unlocks new understanding of fluid dynamics. Credit: Georgia Tech (Saad Bhamla/Elio Challita). Cicadas might be a.....»»