New research shows rewilding with invertebrates – insects, worms, spiders and the like – can go a long way in bringing our degraded landscapes back to life.
The days of freeze-fried astronaut ice cream are long behind us. What will humans eat on Moon colonies in the future? Carefully engineered space gardens could be the answer.
Red onion skin cells seen through a microscope.
Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock
Humans have long struggled to understand the nocturnal world. As environmental change becomes increasingly acute, understanding their lives has never been more critical.
Extremes of the colour gradient of the Eastern San Antonio frog (Hyla orientalis). On the left, a specimen captured in Chernobyl inside the high contamination zone; on the right, a specimen captured outside the Exclusion Zone.
Germán Orizaola/Pablo Burraco
Research on Chernobyl frogs has shown that the ionising radiation caused by the accident triggered a process of natural selection among these animals.
Astronomers think the most likely place to find life in the galaxy is on super-Earths, like Kepler-69c, seen in this artist’s rendering.
NASA Ames/JPL-CalTech
Newly discovered super-Earths add to the list of planets around other stars that offer the best chance of finding life. An astronomer explains what makes these super-Earths such excellent candidates.
Walking vertically – or even upside down – is a piece of cake for ants.
pecchio/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Ant feet are equipped with an array of tools – from retractable sticky pads to claws to special spines and hairs – enabling them to defy gravity and grip virtually any surface.
Bottlenose dolphins are extremely social animals that communicate constantly.
Micha Pawlitzki/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images
Using urine and signature whistles from other dolphins, a team of scientists has shown that dolphins use signature whistles like names and hold mental representations of other dolphins in their minds.
Some scientists believe the ‘free energy principle’ can explain the behaviour of all living things – but others say it paints the world with too broad a brush to be useful.
The round goby is an invasive fish that has become established in the St. Lawrence River over the past two decades, following its introduction into the Great Lakes.
(Cristina Charette)
Wetlands can help limit the spread of the voracious round goby, an invasive species that has infiltrated the Great Lakes and has become widespread in the St. Lawrence River.
Turner was the first scientist to prove certain insects could remember, learn and feel.
Courtesy of Charles I. Abramson
The son of a formerly enslaved mother, Charles Henry Turner was the first to discover that bees and other insects have the ability to modify their behavior based on experience.
A great hammerhead shark’s two eyes can be 3 feet apart on opposite sides of its skull.
Ken Kiefer 2/Image Source via Getty Images
Botany is disappearing from university modules in the UK.
Introductory science classes typically require students to memorize facts, rather than teaching them the basis of scientific thinking.
Maskot via Getty Images
College science classes often fall short of helping students see connections across subjects. Can a new approach make a difference?
Last year’s Tour de France winner was Tadej Pogacar, in the yellow jersey here – his second consecutive Tour title.
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Thomas Uboldi, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
The ocean is often considered a silent universe. But many recent studies highlight the importance of the soundscape for many marine species, both large and small.