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Reeds boost mosquito spread in rivers and ponds

Reed, an invasive alien plant that is abundant on the banks of many rivers, ponds and canals, can encourage the growth of common mosquito populations in the absence of natural predators. When the plant's litter accumulates, ...

Tiny songbird crosses Sahara by flying night after night

Every year a small songbird, no heavier than a letter, crosses the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Desert on its migration. New research from Lund University in Sweden now reveals how the tiny bird manages ...

One of Los Angeles' best-adapted urban creatures: Lizards

March's record heat made it the most abnormally warm month in recorded U.S. history, bringing plants into bloom early and coaxing animals out of their winter hiding places ahead of schedule. Among the creatures making an ...

Chalk-stream salmon could become an official sub-species

Chalk-stream salmon should be officially classified as a sub-species, new research suggests. Scientists from the University of Exeter and INRAe (France) carried out detailed genetic testing of salmon from 42 rivers in England, ...

When humidity changes, so do the colors of sweat bees

Nature is a riot of color. In the animal kingdom, many species, from insects to cephalopods, use their permanent color or change it for communication, camouflage, and thermoregulation. While this type of reversible shift ...

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Plants & Animals
Plants can sense the sound of rain, new study finds
Plants & Animals
Monkeys in Gibraltar self-medicate with soil to help them digest tourists' junk food
Plants & Animals
Whale strandings draw emotional responses. But repeated rescues can cause more harm
Plants & Animals
Uganda's Python Cave reveals how a Marburg virus outbreak could begin
Plants & Animals
Black bears are emerging as roaming reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria across expanding US ranges
Plants & Animals
Getting the jump on evolution: Cane toads adapt at speed
Plants & Animals
Plastics found in tomato and wheat crops stunt growth, study finds
Plants & Animals
Crabs' iconic sideways walk evolved from common ancestor, study suggests
Plants & Animals
Better-fed calves are more motivated to play, pioneering study shows
Plants & Animals
Penguin muscle map reveals how waddles and underwater 'flight' both work
Plants & Animals
Rose pangenome maps 55,000 genes, opening new path for breeding
Plants & Animals
Mosses and thale cress share the same leaf growth principles, despite 400 million years of separate evolution
Plants & Animals
The way primates parent their young shows how strict labels like parenting styles miss the mark
Plants & Animals
How Bruce the half‑beak kea weaponized his disability to become the alpha bird
Plants & Animals
The fast-track tree breeding method that is restoring European ash to the landscape
Plants & Animals
Disabled parrot is undefeated alpha male of his group thanks to novel 'beak jousting'
Plants & Animals
Alkaline cement tiles boost baby coral survival from 12% to 52%
Plants & Animals
Hawaiian green sea turtles emerge as reef defenders against invasive algae
Plants & Animals
Cocaine pollution alters salmon behavior in the wild, study reveals
Plants & Animals
How primitive plants evolved to survive Earth's most catastrophic extinction event

Other news

Astronomy
Orbital dances unlock true masses of Orion's young stars
Paleontology & Fossils
This battered Jurassic sea giant held on against the odds, and its fossil hints at an unexpected survival strategy
Ecology
One blue whale song unlocks oceans of data
Optics & Photonics
One-way phonon synchronization could survive noise and defects, theoretical physicists suggest
Social Sciences
How deceptive content reached millions of voters during the 2020 US elections
Evolution
Some rays flash decoy eyes while others never do, as evolution's hidden trade-off comes into focus
Condensed Matter
How electron structure affects light responses in moiré materials
Archaeology
This 2,200-year-old Roman wreck hid a repair story that rewrites how ancient ships survived long voyages
Social Sciences
Why groups slowly stop working well together, even when conditions are good
Earth Sciences
These eight coastal cities sit on America's flood front line, and AI shows why
Evolution
Neanderthals may have shared key DNA for complex language, reshaping when human speech began
Condensed Matter
Quantum chips could scale faster with new spin-qubit readout that reduces sensors and wiring
Evolution
Giant octopuses may have ruled the oceans 100 million years ago
Astronomy
Mysterious gas clouds near Milky Way's black hole now have a likely source
Optics & Photonics
Physicists revive 1990s laser concept to propose a next-generation atomic clock
Biochemistry
DNA damage just got more complicated: A long-missed weak spot emerges when light and oxygen strike
Cell & Microbiology
New bioreactor turns stem cells into an immune-cell factory, producing 40 million human macrophages per week
Astronomy
Milky Way's 'little cousins' may hold clues about infant universe
Space Exploration
Moon dust could stop being a nuisance and start reshaping how humans may build beyond Earth
Archaeology
Climate and competition alone cannot explain Neanderthal extinction, study finds

How clonal raider ants update their friend-or-foe recognition

For ants, the ability to instantly distinguish nestmates from outsiders who might hijack the colony is crucial. Now, a new study shows that the system that ants use to determine who belongs in the colony is far more flexible ...

Seals risk death by polar bear for a varied meal, study finds

As climate change reshapes Arctic food webs, ringed seals will swim into risky polar bear territory if the menu is varied enough. This is the central finding of a new study published in Ecology Letters. UBC researchers tracked ...