Biology

In a breakthrough, scientists have transferred a courtship behavior from one species to another, triggering the recipient to perform this completely foreign act as if it was natural. It's a feat that has never been genetically engineered before.

We've long known how the nerve endings in our skin detect cold and swiftly relay the information to our brains, but we haven't understood exactly how it works. Scientists have now solved the puzzle, unlocking the mystery of this temperature pathway.

A groundbreaking study has traced the 66-million-year history of primates to overturn conventional thought that our ancestors came from tropical forests. The earliest members of our family tree, scientists say, were actually cold-climate survivors.

Forget flowers and chocolate – in the spider world, courtship survival is the ultimate gift. Scientists have discovered a new genus of tarantula and its defining feature is a supersized sperm-delivery arm nearly four times the length of their body plate.

Leopard seals may be one of Antarctica’s most fearsome predators, but these vocalizers sing with the structured charm of a nursery rhyme. In a new study, researchers discovered that the underwater vocal patterns of these mammals resemble human song.

Tracing the potato’s deep ancestry, researchers have revealed a surprising origin story: modern potatoes emerged from natural interbreeding between tomato relatives and a wild-potato-like species about nine million years ago.

Humpback whales may look like gentle giants, but each year they undertake nature's most extreme crash diet, shedding 36% of their mass in less than two months. New insights into their epic annual swim has identified just how huge their fat loss is.

They’ve been crawling across the seafloor for 500 million years, but some sea stars have amassed such a population they're eating entire reefs alive. Now, a discovery about their spine-speaking chatline gives us a leg up in this ecological arm's race.

Back in 2010, one bold chimp at a sanctuary in Zambia started a curious trend: she stuck a blade of grass in her ear ... and left it there. No reason. Then more chimps started copying her, and blades of grass appeared in other parts of their body.

The first known cases of accidental choking have been discovered, dating back 150 million years, when some ambitious fish got more than they bargained for while picking off algae from squid-like carcasses. It's history's oldest mealtime misadventure.

Researchers have demonstrated a minimally invasive technology that has effectively aided in restoring movement in paralyzed rats. This breakthrough could mean we're a big step closer to treating spinal cord injuries in humans and pets.

A new study has cast doubt on the idea that women are biologically wired to wake more to a crying baby than men. It suggests that the significant disparity in nighttime care is due to social, rather than biological, factors.

Researchers have identified a fascinating behavior in killer whales: they sometimes offer to share their prey with humans. And while the orcas haven't gone on the record to confirm it, it's likely their way of building relationships with us.

For years, we’ve admired plants for their ability to cleanse the air but our green ally might be contributing to air pollution in an unexpected way. While they may be just trying to fend off pests, this mechanism is also harming the environment.

The evolutionary ladder is meant to be climbed one rung at a time with an organism shedding some traits and gaining others on the way up. However, in a very surprising twist, some tomatoes on the Galapagos islands are inching back down the ladder.