Biology

During and after nuclear bomb tests, levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 spiked in the atmosphere and in our bodies. Now, researchers have used that to carbon date our immune cells, helping solve a mystery about how our immune systems age.

Some birds make beautiful chirps and tweets. But the white bellbird blasts an obnoxious “song” so loud that it sounds almost digital. Now, researchers have measured just how ear-splitting it is – and crowned it the loudest bird call ever recorded.

It takes something truly extraordinary to kill a tardigrade. Scientists have uncovered a neat trick they employ to endure inhospitable conditions.

Researchers from UT Southwestern implanted “memories” into the brains of zebra finches, teaching them to sing a song they’ve never actually heard.

Scientists have used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to give fruit flies a new evolutionary advantage – the ability to eat poison and store it in their bodies.

Researchers have analyzed a weapon that bacteria use to kill each other – a toxic "crossbow bolt" – which could inspire new antibiotics.

Scientists have found that the electric eel comes in three species rather than one and that one of these is a real shocker.

A recent analysis of previously-unearthed pterosaur bones reveals that they belonged to a new genus and species.

For the first time, researchers have identified regions of the genome related to left-handedness in the general population.

After analyzing DNA found in Loch Ness, a scientist believes the monster might be a type of giant eel.

The CRISPR tool is often referred to as “genetic scissors,” but a new improvement turns it into a “genetic Swiss Army Knife.”

Sea snakes may be able to "breathe" underwater, thanks to a gill-like network of blood vessels in their heads.