Biology
From the smallest microbe to the largest dinosaurs and from the tiniest spore to the biggest giant sequoia, biological research continues to shed new light on the weird and wonderful world of living organisms.
Top News
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For four years, orcas have been ramming and sinking luxury yachts, and scientists finally have an idea why. No, it's not their anticapitalist 'eat the rich' agenda, nor is it to do with territory and aggression. The truth is, well, it's child's play.
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Scientists have discovered that a once-in-a-billion-years evolutionary event is underway, as two lifeforms have merged into one organism that boasts abilities its peers would envy. Last time this happened, Earth got plants.
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In the 1800s, a conflict between the founding fathers of evolution divided the community. Charles Darwin said sexual selection drove male butterfly looks, while rival Alfred Russel Wallace believed it was just natural selection. Now we have an answer.
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Latest News
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October 03, 2024In a move akin to puncturing an egg yolk without breaking the shell or egg white, researchers have figured out how to pierce the nucleus of a cell without hurting the rest of the structure. The breakthrough could be big news for medical treatments.
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October 03, 2024Scientists have discovered a kind of “pause button” in early human development. This biological mechanism has long been known in other mammals, but its discovery in humans could aid IVF procedures.
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September 24, 2024Move over, Moo Deng, there's a new superstar baby animal that's become an overnight viral sensation – a nine-month-old king penguin chick named Pesto whose species-defying growth spurt has made this big boy a worldwide celebrity.
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September 22, 2024A humble little lizard has developed a clever escape route from predators – it blows a bubble over its nostrils and scuba dives to safety for 20 minutes or more. Now, a biologist has explored exactly how it works.
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September 15, 2024Last year, it was discovered the bluestreak cleaner wrasse could pass the "mirror test", showing that it can recognize its own face in a mirror. Now researchers have found it can actually size itself up against a potential competitor before a fight.
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September 13, 2024Whether we've watched athletes do it or experienced it ourselves, 'choking' in a high-stakes moment comes down to more than composure. For the first time, scientists have uncovered a set of neurons that fail to do their job when the payoff is greatest.
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September 06, 2024Seeing a wombat in regional Australia is not a rare experience, but when ecologists captured this particular one emerging from a den and casually wandering past a motion-sensor camera in the middle of the night, there was serious cause for celebration.
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September 05, 2024In an effort to enhance the research abilities of biologists, Stanford University researchers have discovered that applying a popular food coloring to the skin of mice allowed them to see through to the rodents' internal organs and other structures.
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September 03, 2024Science's war against the super-small and, sometimes, super-deadly bacteria that have evolved to resist destruction by antibiotics may have just enlisted new, unlikely allies: invertebrate creatures living in the frigid depths of the Arctic Ocean.
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August 30, 2024Despite what you might say when drunk, you’re not the best backflipper in the world. That honor belongs to a tiny little bug called a globular springtail, whose superfast backflips have now been caught on slow-motion camera for the first time.
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August 24, 2024A “bananageddon” might be on the horizon, and not for the first time. But new research could help save our favorite fruit.
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August 19, 2024Some species have an incredible knack for hacking others to get what they want. Scientists have now discovered a fascinating new example – some spiders have been seen manipulating fireflies’ flashes to attract more bugs to their webs.
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August 08, 2024Scientists have discovered the largest known protein in biology. Given the fun name of PKZILLA-1, the protein was found in algae cells and helps them make toxins that are responsible for mass killings of fish.
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August 03, 2024Scientists have found evidence that an isolated pocket of complex life evolved 2 billion years ago – only to go extinct and take another 1.5 billion years to return to that level. The controversial find could rewrite our understanding of life on Earth.
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August 02, 2024Everybody loves roses, but we'd probably love them even more if they didn't have those sharp thorns. Well, scientists have found a way of growing thornless roses, and their findings could lead to easier-to-harvest crops.
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