Biology
Close social bonds help wild jackdaws hold feeding spots but come with waiting costs
Close social relationships are known to contribute to the survival of many animals, including humans. Maintaining social bonds over time, however, can also require effort and sacr…
Lion droppings yield previously unknown microbial species, exposing hidden diversity inside Africa's big cats
Scientists know a great deal about how lions hunt, breed and survive, but the microscopic communities living inside them have remained largely unexplored. Now, a study of wild lio…
One million migrating raptors dodge illegal hunters above Georgia's Black Sea coast
Standing on a verdant hill above Georgia's Black Sea coast, ornithologist Bart Hoekstra looked out over one of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles unfolding before him—then g…
Margaret Hamilton obituary
Pioneering software engineer whose work was critical to the Apollo moon landingsApollo was a bold, innovative project. It tested the boundaries of technology and human achievement…
Japan to launch world-first mission to collect samples from Martian moon
Japanese space agency leading five-year mission to Phobos, one of ‘most important unclimbed mountains in the solar system’Japan is to launch a spacecraft on the world’s first miss…
What a worm's brain can teach us about sex differences in the nervous system
Ever wonder what goes on inside the brain of a worm—how it processes information, responds to stimuli and perceives the world around it? Northeastern University researchers have o…
Hand-cranked device tells blood type and red cell levels in 1 minute
When someone is badly injured, doctors urgently need two facts: the patient's blood type, so that a transfusion is safe, and their hematocrit, the share of the blood made up of re…
Australian scavengers don't just eat everything and slink away. They approach a carcass like a buffet
When scientists talk about scavengers, you might imagine an animal sniffing out or stumbling across a carcass, eating as much as possible and slinking away.
Red-sensitive pigments in mantis shrimp eyes act as reversible light switches
With about 30 visual pigments, compared to just three in humans, mantis shrimp possess a visual system that remains a mystery. Researchers from ULiège and Humboldt University in B…
Optical imaging links altered metabolism and oxygen use in Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is best known for its effects on memory and cognition, but the disease also involves changes in how brain cells produce and use energy. Mitochondria, the struc…
Long-serving ABC broadcaster Robyn Williams to leave The Science Show after 51 years
No replacement has been named as the 82-year-old departs, with the media announcement referring only to ‘the next generation’Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free weekly media new…
Scientists uncover mystery of how snail shells coil to the right or to the left
Scientists have discovered a gene that determines whether Japanese snails develop shells that are left- or right-coiling—with implications for understanding the underlying handedn…
Scientists discover cell division does more than make new cells: It helps reshape tissues
Every time a tissue grows or renews itself, cells must divide inside an already crowded environment. That creates a fundamental problem that scientists have not fully understood: …
Essential oil sprays kill cockroaches on contact but offer little lasting control
A German cockroach races across a kitchen floor. Someone grabs a bottle of essential oil spray, soaks the insect and watches it die. The product worked, but a new University of Ke…
Climate warming can slow how tree roots feed soil microbes
A plant's roots do much of their work out of sight, pulling in water and nutrients and holding the plant in place. That makes it hard to see how plants respond when conditions und…
Spiny dogfish blood contains a hormone long thought absent in sharks
Cortisol is a hormone that helps humans and many other animals regulate their energy use and respond to changing conditions. For a long time, sharks and rays were believed to rely…
Replanted landscapes can look restored while soil fungi still lag behind
With up to 75% of the world's soils degraded, restoration projects try to reestablish functional and biodiverse environments to secure adequate food production, biodiversity, clim…
Finding their sense of direction: Cell movement helps tissues establish polarity
From the hairs on our arms to the microscopic sensory structures of the inner ear, many tissues in the body are built with a clear sense of direction. To build these structures th…
Adaptive molecular convergence more common than previously thought, distant jellyfish relatives reveal
A new study has found that adaptive molecular convergence—the process by which distantly related or unrelated species evolve the same genomic changes—is not as rare as previously …
No DREAM, fewer offspring: Protein complex may play key role in plant fertility
A protein complex known as DREAM that normally puts the brakes on genes may also be crucial for reproduction in plants, according to new research published in Science Advances.
Machine learning analysis of gene regulation reveals new dimension of biological variability
Changes in our genes affect health risks from heart disease to cancer, but how those genes are turned on and off is just as crucial to health. What's more, almost all genes occur …
Ancient fungus unlocks secret support system in major food crops that could transform farming practices
Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering mustard plant used worldwide as the primary genetic model in plant biology, was long believed incapable of forming relationships with under…
Wind emerges as overlooked factor in ecosystems' carbon uptake and water loss
Wind does more than sway trees. It also plays an important role in determining an ecosystem's water-use efficiency—defined as the amount of carbon an ecosystem absorbs per unit of…
AI designs working molecular scissors that recognize and cut selected protein targets
Proteases are naturally occurring enzymes that break down proteins into peptides and even single amino acids. They are useful in medicine and industrial processes, where they clea…