Biology

Watch this polar bear cub take his first bath

This little cub has dealt with more than his share of struggle in his brief life. One of three male cubs born at the Toronto Zoo last November, he was the only one to survive more than 48 hours. When his mother had trouble nursing him, staff at the zoo’s Wildlife Health Centre decided to…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Whoa, this leech survived after being in liquid nitrogen for 24 hours

Scientists have learned that a common parasite of sea turtles is capable of surviving ridiculously cold temperatures — a finding that could lead to the development of advanced cryopreservation techniques. Okay, gotta say, this thing’s really weird. Most organisms cannot survive exposure to temperatures below 0°C, let alone temperatures as low as liquid nitrogen. Once…

io9 George Dvorsky

Why did they put canaries in coal mines?

In the old days, a canary went down to work with coal miners. The practice was so ubiquitous that it’s become a cliche. But why, specifically, is a canary such a good indicator of imminent suffocation? The canary in the coal mine is always the first to go, whether in reality or in metaphor. It’s…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

New species of river dolphin discovered in Brazil

Scientists working in the Araguaia River basin of Brazil have discovered the first new river dolphin species in almost 100 years. Critically endangered, there may be only 1,000 of them left. River dolphins are distantly related to sea dolphins. They feature long beaks which they use to hunt for fish in the mud at the…

io9 George Dvorsky

Researchers discover a new sensory ability in humans

“The human sense of smell is far better at guiding us through our everyday lives than we give it credit for,” said cognitive neuroscientist Johan Lundström. He was referring to what he and a research team just discovered, which is that humans can actually tell how much fat is in their food just by smelling…

io9 Annalee Newitz

These spiders build statues of themselves using leaves and dead bugs

Did you know that there is a spider that spends its time building lifelike spider effigies out of discarded leaves, twigs, and dead insect bodies? Now, however frightened you are, take that and multiply it by two. Because there are actually two entirely separate species of spiders, both independently building spider effigies. Wired reports on…

io9 Ria Misra

When female capuchin monkeys want sex, they throw stones at the males

Children who don’t know better might throw spitballs or pull hair to get another child’s attention, and it turns out that certain monkeys do something similar. Female capuchin monkeys have been observed throwing rocks at males as a form of courtship. This study involves an animal with the incredibly appropriate scientific name Sapajus libidinosus, the…

io9 Lauren Davis

These pretty little bubbles are actually bug sperm

Springtails have evolved a rather strange way of mating. The males of these tiny soil-dwelling arthropods never actually get to meet their partners — instead, they deposit drops of sperm on sticks for discriminating females. Male members of the springtail species, O. cincta, make no effort to meet females. Instead, they roam around leaves, pausing…

io9 George Dvorsky

Feast your eyes on this treasure trove of old medical illustrations

The Wellcome Library has released over 100,000 historical medical, science, and art images, and they are gorgeous, strange, and a little macabre. Here are some of our favorites, which include an early 19th-century artist’s conception of the teeming life within the Thames river (top) and (in order) a flip-panel anatomical illustration book, a sketch of…

io9 Ria Misra

New species of Antarctic sea anemone could hint at alien life

A research robot out on a routine test inadvertently stumbled upon a never-before-seen species of sea anemone living upside down in Antarctic ice. It’s a remarkable discovery that could hint at the kind of life that might be found in the subsurface oceans of Europa. https://gizmodo.com/massive-plumes-of-water-are-erupting-from-europas-icy-1481376874 The tiny sea anemones were discovered by a cylindrical…

io9 George Dvorsky

Even Fruit Fly Eyes Can Look Beautiful

You’ve probably never stared deep into the eyes of a fruit fly—until now. Because this beautiful image reveals the inner workings of the the compound eye of Drosophila melanogaster. The picture, which took first prize in the Huygens Image Contest 2013 for microscopic images, shows cell nuclei stained blue, proteins called cadherin in red and…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Researchers Find the Proteins in Your Body are Vibrating Constantly

The proteins in your body are positively abuzz with energy. Now, physicists claim they have the measurements to prove it. The millions of proteins in humans and other living things vibrate in different patterns like the strings on a violin or the pipes of an organ, according to a new study in Nature Communications. Scientists…

io9 Jennifer Viegas – Discovery News

This is a blood cell balanced on the head of a pin

This incredible image was captured using a scanning electron microscope. It’s been colorized to provide contrast, but this is actually what it would look like if you balanced one red blood cell on a pin. Amazing. Via Microscope Pics

io9 Annalee Newitz

Why do birds fly in a V formation?

To save energy? Well, yes, there’s that. But the energy-conservation hypothesis went largely untested for many years. Now, results from a rather creatively designed experiment have confirmed what we’ve long supposed about flying formations – but not without raising some downright baffling questions in the process. Ed Yong dissects some of the finer points of…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How do our bodies adjust to extreme temperatures?

This man clearly harbors no qualms about the cold. The native Norwegian achieved viral renown some weeks back for skating on and swimming in Norway’s Lake Goksjo almost entirely nude, save for a pair of speedos and a wreath of ice worn round his neck. We know what you’re thinking: How I can I be…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This Is the World’s First Working Cell Made From Plastic

Scientists have long been toiling to create artificial life, managing to produce man-made cell walls and even synthetic DNA. But now, a team of chemists has produced a functioning cell made from polymers. This is the first ever eukaryotic cell—that just means it contains a nucleus and other sub-units known as organelles within its membrane—to…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Why is this bee wearing a tiny surveillance device?

Glued to the back of this Australian bee is an RFID chip that can track where it goes, what it eats, and when. But this bug won’t be tracking you — instead, it just might save the planet. One of the most pressing environmental issues right now is food security, or our ability to feed…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Watch this spider use its web as a bug-trapping slingshot

That’s right, this Amazonian arachnid can fling its web at your face. But it prefers to take aim at tasty bugs rather than wait for them to walk onto its web. Georgia Institute of Technology graduate student Troy Alexander spotted this daredevil spider at the Tambopata Research Center jungle lodge in Peru, and Jeff Cremer…

io9 Lauren Davis

This scientist believes you can regrow your lost limbs

Michael Levin is a regenerative and developmental biologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He has spent most of his career studying how electrical signals travel between cells in the body. Now, he thinks we could use those signals to program our cells to regrow arms, legs, and even faces. Over at Matter, Cynthia Graber has…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Trees become more powerful as they age

It turns out that trees share a fundamental property with the universe itself. The the older they get, the more quickly they expand. A new study reveals that older trees grow more quickly than their younger counterparts. They are better carbon sinks, too. But why? An international group of ecological and plant biologists conducted a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Watch this polar bear cub take his first bath

Whoa, this leech survived after being in liquid nitrogen for 24 hours

Why did they put canaries in coal mines?

New species of river dolphin discovered in Brazil

Researchers discover a new sensory ability in humans

These spiders build statues of themselves using leaves and dead bugs

When female capuchin monkeys want sex, they throw stones at the males

These pretty little bubbles are actually bug sperm

Feast your eyes on this treasure trove of old medical illustrations

New species of Antarctic sea anemone could hint at alien life

Even Fruit Fly Eyes Can Look Beautiful

Researchers Find the Proteins in Your Body are Vibrating Constantly

This is a blood cell balanced on the head of a pin

Why do birds fly in a V formation?

How do our bodies adjust to extreme temperatures?

This Is the World’s First Working Cell Made From Plastic

Why is this bee wearing a tiny surveillance device?

Watch this spider use its web as a bug-trapping slingshot

This scientist believes you can regrow your lost limbs

Trees become more powerful as they age

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