Biology

Jan 23rd, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Beluga whales in Alaska's Bristol Bay live on a genetic knife edge. Their population is relatively small, largely isolated from other beluga groups, and notoriously difficult for scientists to study. In theory, those conditions should make them especially vulnerable to inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity. But new research suggests these whales may have found an unexpected workaround. Instead of a mating system dominated by a few powerful males, Bristol Bay belugas ... [Read More]

Jan 23rd, 2026 - Watching dolphins play can evoke wonder and admiration. While these delightful bonds may seem fleeting, a subset of dolphins form complex alliances based on strong, lifelong friendships. And these bonds may slow aging, a recent study suggests. To explore that association, researchers drew on more than four decades of behavioral observations of a well-studied group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia. The new research showed that social relationships influenced the pace ... [Read More]

Jan 23rd, 2026 - Some animal societies are ruled by despots with an iron fist, while others seem naturally egalitarian – and they all have lessons for us. The 20th Century had no shortage of despots. Ruthless leaders who crushed their opponents and brutalised anyone who dared step out of line. Authoritarians like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin – and Bill the house mouse. In the early 1950s, Peter Crowcroft, an ecologist and expert in mice, was on a former World War Two bomber training airbase ... [Read More]

Jan 23rd, 2026 - Many species of fungus across the world produce psilocybin, a chemical with psychedelic effects in humans, but its evolutionary purpose may be to deter mushroom-munching insects Magic mushrooms have been giving humans mind-altering experiences for thousands of years, but the real reason fungi evolved these hallucinogenic chemicals may have been as a bioweapon against insects that feed on them. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in numerous species of magic mushrooms, which are found on every ... [Read More]

Jan 23rd, 2026 - Millions of years of isolation have shaped Australia's extraordinary mammal fauna into species unlike anywhere else in the world, from platypus to koalas and wombats. Tragically, Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions. About 40 species have gone extinct in the 238 years since European colonisation began, and nearly 80 species are now imperilled. It's essential we understand what factors caused these extinctions and ongoing decline. Over many years, scientists have gathered ... [Read More]

Jan 23rd, 2026 - An "epigenetic" adaptation could prevent large numbers of loggerhead turtles from hatching as female due to climate change – a threat that was feared to lead to population collapse Sea turtles may be better able to cope with climate change than we had thought. Biologists are concerned that the reptiles might face extinction because warmer conditions will encourage most turtle eggs to develop into females. But it turns out the animals have a genetic safety net that could help them retain a ... [Read More]

Jan 22nd, 2026 - A newly revealed "aging cliff" in sperm RNA marks a conserved molecular transition from youth to later life, offering fresh insight into how a father's age may influence the earliest stages of development. Study: Conserved shifts in sperm small non-coding RNA profiles during mouse and human aging A recent study in The EMBO Journal used a previously developed method, PANDORA-seq, to profile small non-coding RNAs ( sncRNAs ) in mouse and human spermatozoa across the lifespan, uncovering ... [Read More]

Jan 22nd, 2026 - Blind, slow and 500 years old – or are they? How scientists are unravelling the secrets of Greenland sharks Described by one researcher as looking 'already dead', the enigmatic creatures are one of the least understood species on the planet I t looks more like a worn sock than a fearsome predator. It moves slower than an escalator. By most accounts, it is a clumsy and near-sightless relic drifting in the twilight waters of the Arctic , lazily searching for food scraps. But the Greenland ... [Read More]

Jan 22nd, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Wild dolphins are putting sea sponges over their snouts to hunt along the seafloor, and the tool changes what they can sense. That choice matters because it shows how animal traditions survive only when brains can adapt to the hidden costs. Dolphins hunting with sponges In Shark Bay, Western Australia, some bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus , have been filmed grabbing marine sponges and covering their beaks. The work was led by Ellen Rose Jacobs, Ph.D., at Aarhus ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - A group of students came face-to-face with the wondrous world underwater during a field trip in the Azores, an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic. The group put a BRUV (baited remote underwater video camera) inside the waters every day. Their objective was to see the activity underneath the Atlantic Ocean, and it is safe to say from the footage that they weren't disappointed. Some beings they were able to detect in the footage include Atlantic spotted dolphins and a large blue shark. According to ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google A plant that can't make seeds has a big problem: it can grow, but it struggles to move. Without seeds to hitch rides on wind, water, or animals, an asexual plant is often stuck near its parent, piling up in the same patch of habitat and risking local wipeout. A new yam species has found a clever workaround. Instead of relying on seeds, the yam makes tiny "clone starters" that look like fruit, tricking birds into eating them and carrying them to new places. The species is ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Mystery tower fossils may come from a newly discovered kind of life Before trees came along some 400 million years ago, our planet's landscape was dominated by enigmatic, spire-shaped life-forms that towered more than 25 feet above the ground. Their trunklike fossils were discovered in 1843. Yet despite more than a century of speculation, scientists have struggled to answer the most basic question about Earth's original terrestrial giants: What were they? According to a new study, that may be ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Urban life doesn't just squeeze animals into smaller green spaces. It also changes how they relate to each other – who they choose as mates, how they communicate, whether they form stable groups, and how they handle conflict.  A new large review led by researchers at Bielefeld University argues that this social side of city life has been underestimated, even though it can decide whether populations survive or slowly fade out. The team pulled together evidence ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on Octopuses may have big brains because of environmental – not social – factors. Large brains in mammals are generally thought to be linked to social behaviour , an idea known as the social brain hypothesis. The more social connections that members of a species have, the bigger the brain needs to be to manage those connections, a ... [Read More]

Jan 20th, 2026 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . H eartworm infections are increasingly common in pups—in 2022, more than 1.2 million dogs in the United States were documented with the condition, and infection rates have risen over the past two decades. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. These spaghetti-like nematodes, formally known as Dirofilaria immitis , grow up to nearly a foot long. They can make their way into an animal's blood vessels in the heart and lungs and prompt ... [Read More]

Jan 19th, 2026 - A century-old Brazilian fungus went global by hitching a ride in the international frog meat trade. A pathogenic fungus that has wiped out hundreds of amphibian species worldwide started its global journey in Brazil. Genetic evidence correlated with trade data demonstrates how the fungus hitchhiked across the world via international frog meat markets. These findings, from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, raise urgent concerns about how wildlife ... [Read More]