Biology
Marine Microbe Performs Animal Trick
A cup of cells can both bend and “see,” feats rarely seen outside of animals
Stories by Jennifer Frazer
Evolution
Slime Molds Have Been Oozing around Earth for at Least 100 Million Years
Stunning new fossil reveals that at least one Cretaceous slime mold—an “intelligent” giant amoeba—looks identical to one alive today
Biology
How a Tiny Pit Decides a Pine Tree’s Fate
Live fast, die young and leave a good lookin’ stump
Evolution
Did the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Inadvertently Help Lichens?
The leafy lichens seem to have picked up where a lot of incinerated plants left off
Biology
New Shipworm Eats Rock, a First for Animals
Like lichens, these animals mine stone. What they do with it is another question
Biology
Striped Maples Can Change Sex Repeatedly
Unassuming tree has unusual sex life
Biology
These Bizarre Parasites Garden Their Insect Hosts
Be glad human STDs do not include this one
Evolution
What the Heck Are These Fossils?
Are they the first animal embryos? 20 years post-discovery, these and other fossils from the 600-million-year-old Doushantuo Formation remain frustratingly enigmatic
Biology
Organ Stealing and Slave Driving Rampant among—Plankton?
Ocean microbes long thought to depend exclusively on eating turn out to have a solid, if sinister, Plan B
Biology
How a Half-Inch Beetle Finds Fires 80 Miles Away
Fire chaser beetles' ability to sense heat borders on the spooky
Biology
Kangaroo Rats Channel Jackie Chan to Evade Rattlesnakes [Video]
First ever high-speed video of interaction contains big surprises
Biology
For Some Reason, New World Flying Squirrels Fluoresce Pink
No other placental mammals have ever shown this ability—perhaps because we haven't looked
Evolution
2.1 Billion-Year-Old Tracks May Be Giant Ancient "Slime Molds" [Video]
Whatever made these structures lived 1.4 billion years before the first animals
Biology
The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
What separates a lethal prion from a dementia-associated amyloid plaque? Maybe not much
Biology
Inside Earth, Microbes Approach Immortality
Mostly dead is slightly alive
Biology
Prions, Nearly Indestructible and Universally Lethal, Seed the Eyes of Victims
Discovery suggests worrying transmission possibilities
Evolution
Fanworms, "Nature's Eye Factories," Stick Them Pretty Much Anywhere
Necessity is the mother of invention
Biology
Scientists Sculpt Bacteria into Hearts, Moons and Stars
Because if you can grow a square watermelon…, why not E. coli?
Evolution
Eye Candy: Fossil Flowers Bloomed When Dinosaurs Ruled Earth
Seven complete specimens of 100-million-year-old flower found preserved in amber
Biology
Magic Mushroom Drug Evolved to Mess with Insect Brains
For that matter, so did most natural recreational drugs
