Biology

A coqui frog perches on a branch in Puerto Rico.

Chirps of Coqui Frogs May Be Getting Shorter and Higher Pitched As Climate Warms

The shift in duration and pitch could impede females’ ability to pick up on mating signals, researchers say

The Midwest aglow with a visualization of photosynthetic fluorescence.

Under the Summer Sun, the Corn Belt Is the Most Biologically Productive Place on Earth

During the peak growing season, the corn belt outproduces the Amazon

Could it be true vole love, or just a casual encounter? Depends on whether booze is involved.

Drunken Prairie Voles Help Explain Alcohol’s Demons

Why do some people become more prone to attachment and sentimentality when drunk, while others tend to stray?

Dingoes Aren’t Just Wild Dogs

Rather than being the descendants of feral mutts, dingoes are actually in their own unique taxonomical corner

Oxytocin Encourages People to Think More About the Group, Less About Themselves

It's not that oxytocin makes people act in a good or bad way, just in a way that best serves the interests of their people

Colorful archaea grow in in ponds.

How a Single Act of Evolution Nearly Wiped Out All Life on Earth

A single gene transfer event may have caused the Great Dying

Scientists made synthetic version of a chromosome found in brewer's yeast, pictured above, a fungus commonly used to make beer.

Scientists Build a Yeast Chromosome From Scratch. Next Up? Designer Genomes

Creating synthetic organisms with specially-tailored genomes is a long way off, but the first synthetic eukaryotic chromosome is a big step forward

Altering activity in the gut has been shown to affect mood and behavior. Can it also improve learning?

Checking the Claim: Can Probiotics Make You Smarter?

A researcher says a certain strain of gut bacteria can enhance brain power—but some critics aren't sold

Compost

New York Is Turning Its Leftovers Into Natural Gas, With the Help of Hungry Bacteria

Some cities are taking table scraps and turning them into fuel.

The planet Kepler-22b, shown in this artwork, is the right size and distance from its star to support liquid water, and perhaps life.

The Search for Life Across the Universe

Smithsonian astrophysicist Jeremy Drake explains how the question changed from "if" life will be found elsewhere to "when" and "where"

Fossil whale skeletons, evidence of an ancient mass stranding of the animals, discovered during the building of the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile in 2011.

Scientists Solve the Mystery of a Nine-Million-Year-Old Mass Whale Die-Off

Ancient blooms of toxic algae appear to have killed dozens of whales at once

A mosquito of the genus Anopheles.

Nazi Scientists Wanted to Use Mosquitoes to Send Diseases Behind Enemy Lines

The Nazi SS ran an entomological research facility

14 Fun Facts About Lovebirds

Number one: Lovebirds mate for life

Wisdom the Albatross with her newest chick.

Wisdom the Albatross, the World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird, Has Yet Another Baby

Wisdom is 63, and this is thought to be her 35th-or-so chick

Some dinosaurs, such as the (Caudipteryx zoui) above, had brightly colored feathers. New research suggests that modern birds inherited their own color varieties from their feathered dinosaur ancestors.

Colorful Plumage Began With Feathered Dinosaurs

The pigment patterns scientists use to predict ancient animal colors started with feathered dinosaurs and led to vibrant color in birds

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This Terrifying Parasite Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to the Queen in "Aliens"

Phronima hollow out their prey and ride around in their corpse

Bombus flavifrons worker visiting a columbine in Grant Teton National Park

Bumblebees Can Fly Into Thin Air

Once thought to be unimpressive fliers, bumblebees may be able to summit Mount Everest, new research suggests

In the Animal Kingdom, Deadbeat Dads Breed Bigger Babies

Female reproductive strategies vary with paternal investment

GM Purple Tomatoes Could Actually Be Good for You

These tomatoes are stuffed with anthocyanins (but they're not the only source of the healthy pigment)

In Selfmade, microbiologist Christina Agapakis and scent artist Sissel Tolaas made cheese from bacteria collected from people's mouths and toes.

Cheese Made From Bacteria Between Your Toes and Other Bizarre Bio Art

With groundbreaking (and controversial) projects, artists are starting a conversation about the future of synthetic biology

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