Biology

The bitty ant on top of the big one is a newly-described species of "rodeo ant," a queen that rides atop her perch by biting its waist.

Texan 'Rodeo Ants' Ride on the Backs of Bigger Ants

The strategy helps the parasitic riders steal food and childcare from their hosts

Bocydium globulare, a treehopper with an unusual, helicopter-like helmet.

Treehoppers’ Bizarre, Wondrous Helmets Use Wing Genes to Grow

The elaborate structures, which are not actually wings, can resemble thorns, leaves, ants and more

Bioluminescent "sea fireflies," a species of ostracod crustacean, covering the rocks on the coast of Okayama, Japan.

How Studying Bioluminescent Creatures Is Transforming Medical Science

The natural light of insects and sea creatures can help doctors illuminate H.I.V. and even kill cancer cells

Indian Roller on Sandalwood Branch, by Shaikh Zain ud-Din, Impey Album, Calcutta, 1780.

London Exhibit Celebrates Indian Artists Who Captured Natural History for the East India Company

Paintings once anonymized as "company art" will finally be labeled with the names of their creators

When the scientists played the sounds of healthy coral ecosystems at damaged reefs, 50 percent more species showed up than at quiet sites.

One Way to Lure Fish Back to Damaged Reefs? Play the Sounds of Living Coral

The find is fascinating, but can’t save these marine ecosystems by itself

The tooth-filled mouth of a lamprey. These bloodsucking fish have managed to survive for hundreds of millions of years.

Why the World Needs Bloodsucking Creatures

The ecological benefits of animals like leeches, ticks and vampire bats are the focus of a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum

City noise can throw off a bat's ability to use echolocation.

Noise Pollution Impacts a Wide Range of Species, Study Finds

From tiny insects to large marine mammals, animals are affected by noise in ways that might threaten their survival

A humpback whale basks in sunlight at the ocean's surface in Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Dominican Republic.

South Atlantic Humpback Whales Have Rebounded From the Brink of Extinction

A new study estimates that the group’s population has grown from 440 individuals in 1958 to nearly 25,000 today

Sweet Narwhal will be adoptable soon, but he is not for sale. He is a very good boy, of course.

Meet the ‘Unicorn Puppy’ With an Extra Tail on His Head

Narwhal’s unique appendage may be the remnant of his parasitic twin

The Human Microbiome Project defined nine sites in the mouth. Each provides a habitat for a distinct set of bacterial communities.

By Studying Mouth Bacteria, Scientists Hope to Learn the Secrets of Microbiomes

Communities of bacteria and other microbes in the human mouth can help researchers learn how these groups of organisms affect human health

Mark Prausnitz holds an experimental microneedle contraceptive skin patch. Designed to be self-administered by women for long-acting contraception, the patch could provide a new family planning option.

Will Microneedle Patches Be the Future of Birth Control?

Researchers are developing a new long-acting, self-administered device that delivers hormones beneath the skin’s surface

Why Did Thousands of Rubber Bands Show Up on an Uninhabited Cornish Island?

Nesting gulls have likely been trying to feed the bands found in nearby flower fields to their chicks for decades

Plants growing in lunar and Martian soil simulants.

Space Farmers Could Grow Crops in Lunar and Martian Soil, Study Suggests

With a little added organic matter, dusty lunar and Martian soil simulants produced tomatoes, rye, radishes and other crops in the lab

By collecting images and GPS data from citizen divers, scientists can get a better sense of the health of the entire Great Barrier Reef.

Massive Citizen Science Effort Seeks to Survey the Entire Great Barrier Reef

Only about 1,000 of 3,000 individual reefs have been documented, but the Great Reef Census hopes to fill in the gaps

The 'blob' now lives in a terrarium where it loves warm temperatures and humidity.

Paris Zoo Unveils Bizarre, Brainless ‘Blob’ Capable of Learning—and Eating Oatmeal

Physarum polycephalum is known as a slime mold, but it is not in fact a fungus. It’s also not a plant. Or an animal.

Summer snowpack at Zackenberg in 2018.

Extreme Snowfall Prevented Arctic Species From Breeding Last Year

Snow coverage persisted through late July, which prevented plants, insects and birds from reproducing normally

Coyotes are one of the most resourceful and resilient predators and play an important role in controlling populations of small mammals.

Connecting With Coyotes on the Prowl

Biologist Joe Guthrie embarks on a new study to track five adults in the Shenandoah Valley using GPS collars

Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Scientists Who Revealed How Cells Respond to Different Oxygen Levels

Three medical scientists will share the award for further explaining how the body responds to oxygen abundance

Three green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, on a coral reef, Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Coral Reefs Face the Dual Threats of Ocean Acidification and Erosion

As coral tissues die off, the exposed calcified skeleton becomes vulnerable to organisms that eat away at the dying reefs

One of the Dinizia excelsa or angelim vermelho trees, which can grow over 80 meters. The tallest, as measured by satellite, towered 88.5 meters above the forest floor.

Researchers Discover the Tallest Known Tree in the Amazon

Satellite images and a trek into the rainforest reveal a group of trees over 80 meters, or about 260 feet, and one as tall as 88.5 meters

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