BiologyNovember 28, 2017
Chocolate Trees Shower Young with Disease-Fighting Leaves
Cacao plants have an internal microbiome they can pass to seedlings just as human moms do
Stories by Jennifer Frazer
Jennifer Frazer, an AAAS Science Journalism Award–winning science writer, authored The Artful Amoeba blog for Scientific American. She has degrees in biology, plant pathology and science writing.
BiologyNovember 16, 2017
Bacteria Recruit Diatoms to Ice Party with Massive Anchor
An Antarctic bacterium with a protein as big as some bacteria has a special way of bringing microbes together
EvolutionNovember 10, 2017
Unexpected Fossils Hint at Large Life 1.6 Billion Years Ago
If true, fossils found in bacterial mats push back earliest known eukaryotes by 400 million years
BiologyOctober 31, 2017
Beelzebufo and the Pumpkin Toadlet
Spiders, snakes and assorted creepy-crawlies get all the glory. It’s time to give scary frogs and toads some Halloween love
BiologyOctober 25, 2017
Deep-Sea Surprise: The Forest of the Weird
Scientists encountered an unexpected glass sponge garden this summer in the deep Pacific
BiologyOctober 16, 2017
Parasite Can Pass Warnings between Co-Joined Hosts
The plant parasite dodder grafts itself to multiple hosts, fusing the plants into a superorganism that can produce surprising effects
BiologyOctober 6, 2017
New Glimpses of Rare Deep-Sea Siphonphores
2017 has produced a beautiful crop
BiologyOctober 5, 2017
Bacteria Stab Amoebas to Escape Being Eaten
One species has found yet another use for a favorite bacterial multitool
BiologySeptember 22, 2017
Moldy Rock Pulled from 2,500 Feet Underground
Swedes searching for nuclear waste storage site stumble on a pocket of fungi that may reveal a huge hidden reservoir of life
BiologyAugust 1, 2017
Praying Mantises Catch and Eat Birds Alive [Video]
Hummingbirds in the Americas are a favorite target, but behavior seen worldwide
BiologyJuly 13, 2017
Learn about Rocky Mountain Mushrooms with Yours Truly
Curious about mushrooms? Live in Colorado?
EvolutionJuly 10, 2017
Alien Creature Swarming Oregon's Coast Is Actually a Close Relative [Video]
Oddly-shaped "sea pickles" have simple spinal cords and spines, at least as youngsters
BiologyJune 22, 2017
Internet Sees Mysterious Gathering (Council?) of Gandalf-Themed Creatures
Wizard hats are all the rage, apparently
BiologyJune 12, 2017
New Trove of Lichen Fossils Expands Total from 15 to 167
Botanical bonanza is also a trove of eye candy
EvolutionMay 19, 2017
The Sea Cucumber That Became a Jellyfish
Calling Cthulhu ...
BiologyMay 5, 2017
Bacterial Hair on Undersea Volcano Unlike Any Seen Before
Discovery is proof entire Earth ecosystems still await discovery
EvolutionApril 21, 2017
The Giant Shipworm, Revealed at Last [Video]
An animal that eluded collection for hundreds of years bolsters deep-sea colonization hypothesis
EvolutionApril 12, 2017
Are These Trilobite Eggs?
Mystery of trilobite reproduction may at last be solved
BiologyApril 4, 2017
15-Million-Year-Old Pinecones Can Still Move
In 15 million years, you will not be moving anything
BiologyMarch 24, 2017
The Venus Flytrap Anemone Is Doubly Well Named [Video]
Two alien, beautiful creatures are all in a day's work for deep-sea explorers
BiologyMarch 20, 2017
Pores Inside Bacteria Are Eerily Familiar
Freshwater bacteria from Australia surprise scientists with a suite of features unlike any seen before
BiologyMarch 2, 2017
The Mesmerizing Motions of Starfish Larvae [Video]
The flow patterns starfish larvae generate while going about their business have an otherworldly beauty
EvolutionFebruary 24, 2017
These Fins Are Made for Walking
The sea robin looks nothing like a robin—or anything else, really
EvolutionFebruary 21, 2017
Shellfish Bearing Tusks? It Happened
500 million years ago, such creatures were part of the community of oddballs famously found in today's Burgess Shale