Beehives Are Held Together by Their Mutual Gut Microbes
New research shows that members of a bee colony all have the same gut microbiome, which controls their smell—and thus their ability to separate family from foe.
Biology12583 articles archived since 1845
These Endangered Birds Are Forgetting Their Songs
Australia’s critically endangered regent honeyeaters are losing what amounts to their culture—and that could jeopardize their success at landing a mate...
Brood X Cicadas Could Cause a Bird Baby Boom
Billions of emerging insects will likely trigger predator population surges—but some species mysteriously opt out of such bounties
How a Carnivorous Mushroom Poisons Its Prey
Scientists have known for decades that oyster mushrooms feasted on roundworms—and they’ve finally figured out how their toxins work
What Monkeys Can Teach Humans about Resilience after Disaster
Following Hurricane Maria, a Puerto Rican colony of rhesus macaques broadened their social networks. Could humans do the same post-COVID?
Killer Leaves Emerge from Plant-Butterfly Arms Race
Closely related plants evolved to sacrifice patches of their own leaves, destroying specific caterpillar eggs
Chocolate’s Secret Ingredient Is Fermenting Microbes
Underneath the shiny wrapper, a chocolate bunny is a fermented food
The Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Created the Amazon Rain Forest
Fossilized pollen and leaves reveal that the meteorite that caused the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs also reshaped South America’s plant communities to yield the planet’s largest rain forest...
Our Bodies Replace Billions of Cells Every Day
Blood and the gut dominate cell turnover
Female Botanist Published the First Ever Photo Book
Nineteenth-century researcher Anna Atkins collected specimens of algae and imaged them using the then cutting-edge blueprinting process
Some Deep-Sea Bacteria Are So Strange, Our Immune Sensors Miss Them
These microbes are redefining our understanding of how bodies recognize potential pathogens
Guardians of the Microbial Galaxy
Culture collections of bacteria play an unheralded but crucial role in science
Pilot Whales Show Possible Orca-Mimicking Repertoire
Southern long-finned pilot whales’ calls could help them outsmart an apex predator
Scientists Grew Tiny Tear Glands in a Dish—Then Made Them Cry
Organoids made of tear-producing cells offer chances to study, and possibly treat, eye disorders
Why Does DNA Spontaneously Mutate? Quantum Physics Might Explain
A phenomenon called proton tunneling could account for point mutations in strands of genetic material
An Octopus Could Be the Next Model Organism
Big-brained cephalopods could shine light on the evolution and neurobiology of intelligence, complexity, and more—and inspire medical and technological breakthroughs
This Sea Slug Can Chop Off Its Head and Grow an Entire New Body—Twice
It is one of the “most extreme” examples of regeneration ever seen
That Mouse in Your House—It’s Smarter, Thanks to You
Scientists studied three varieties of house mice and found that those who had lived alongside humans the longest were also the craftiest at solving food puzzles. Christopher Intagliata reports...
Hummingbirds’ Iridescent Feathers Are Still a Bit of a Mystery
Scientists still don’t know the full purpose of this changeable biological trait
Prehistoric Plankton Became Predators to Survive a Mass Extinction
When the sun disappeared, tiny coccoliths turned to hunting
