Biology

Although the chest-beating of male gorillas is a common behaviour, its purpose still isn't entirely understood. Now, however, scientists believe it may serve as a means of acoustically indicating the size of the apes' bodies.

Bacteria have developed crafty weapons in their ongoing wars, such as tailocins, which act somewhat like “homing missiles” against their enemies. Now, researchers have investigated just how tailocins work, and how we might use them to our advantage.

When we think of camouflage, it’s usually a visual pattern. But how do you hide from a predator that uses sound to find food, like a bat? If you’re a firefly, it turns out you might resort to a cacophony of ultrasound that acts like “musical armor.”

Scientists have created a synthetic single-celled organism that can divide and grow like a regular living cell. This breakthrough could lead to designer cells that can produce useful chemicals on demand or treat disease from inside the body.

A striking new study has found gene expression can dramatically increase in some brain cells hours after a person dies. The researchers suggest scientists studying post-mortem brain tissue must take into account these significant changes in future work.

The whale shark and the manta ray are perhaps two of the ocean's most fascinating large fishes. Well, scientists have now announced the discovery of a prehistoric ancestor of both, that looked like a cross between the two.

A study is offering clues to the origins of a deadly fungal pathogen that mysteriously appeared in hospitals around the world 10 years ago. The study chronicles the discovery of the pathogen for the first time in a remote natural environment.

A global study tracking birth data from 165 countries has found more twins are being born than ever before. The study reveals twinning rates rose by a third over the past 40 years but the researchers suggest this trend may have reached a natural peak.

Just like a tree trunk, the tusk of the narwhal acquires a new growth ring every year. Analyses of those rings have now revealed some interesting facts about the animals' diet, and about changes in their environment.

For the past 150 years or so, scientists have theorized that the life cycle of the present-day lamprey mirrors the evolution of all fish – and thus of all vertebrates. Newly analyzed fossils, however, indicate that such is not the case.

While we've seen fossilized dinosaur eggs and embryos before, paleontologists have now discovered an unprecedented three-for-one – a fossilized dinosaur parent sitting on a nest of eggs, in which embryos are present.

Yale researchers have found evidence that worms can detect the color blue – even though it doesn’t have eyes or any kind of visual system. In tests, the team found that the color of harmful bacteria influenced whether or not the worms avoided them.