Biology

These Are Some of the Best Microscopic Images of the Year

Every year, GE Healthcare runs a competition to find the best microscopic cell images of the year—and here are some of our favorites from the shortlist. You can actually go look at all of them over on GE’s website andvote for your own favorites, which will help decide which one is crowned the 2014 winner.…

The Very Best Camera Trap Photography

Don’t look too surprised, giant kitty — you’re live on candid camera trap! Zoologists and ecologists these days use “camera traps,” or motion-activated cameras hidden in natural habitats, to observe wildlife without harming them. The resulting pictures are often heartbreakingly gorgeous, occasionally goofy, and reveal animals we never knew existed. Top image: An African leopard…

Your body is an ecosystem

The majority of cells in your body belong to microbes, not your own tissues. In a very real sense, you are an ecosystem more than a unified organism. And this gorgeously illustrated animation by Ben Arthur gives you an idea of what that means. The microbes in your body help you digest your food, fight…

This Mekong River Monster footage is pretty weird

I think the strangest part of this “river monster” video, taken on Thailand’s Mekong River, is the very first bit. What the heck is that weird membrane thing? Other than that, this shaky footage hovers between looking like a beaver, a duck, and some kind of bathtub toy (albeit a rather large one). Any idea…

Study backs up what owners already know: Cats don’t care

Japanese researchers have tested whether or not cats recognize their owners’ voices. The good news: they can. The bad news: they’re probably going to ignore it. Two researchers, Atsuko Saito and Kazutaka Shinozuka, out of the University of Tokyo conducted an experiment to examine communication between cats and humans. The results were published in Animal…

What would happen if a lion fought a tiger?

We’ve always been speculating about battles between superheroes. We know the outcome of octopus versus shark. At last we have an expert speculating on lion versus tiger. Which one would win? https://gizmodo.com/the-battle-of-shark-vs-octopus-has-a-shocking-ending-5941535 Since there’s a good chance you’ve spent the weekend slowly tearing apart a ritualistically slaughtered bird, before going out and trampling your fellow…

Why Isaac Asimov’s famous dystopia is still relevant today

There’s a must-read piece at Slate on Isaac Asimov’s classic novel The Caves of Steel, part of a trilogy of novels about societies where everybody lives hundreds of years and relies on robots for everything. After a terrific summary, Konstantin Kakaes explains why it’s all still relevant. In a nutshell, Caves of Steel is a…

This could be the earliest flowering plant ever found in North America

Quite by accident, a Smithsonian researcher has uncovered the remains of what appears to be an early Cretaceous-era flowering plant. The remarkable fossil was originally uncovered back in 1971, and it may be the oldest example of its kind from North America. Flowering plants first emerged from now-extinct plants related to conifers, ginkos, cycads, and…

Controversial study linking GM corn to tumors in rats retracted

Since its publication in September 2012, a study that showed rats fed Monsanto’s glyphosate-resistant NK603 maize developed more tumors than controls has been roundly criticized for its poor experimental design and dubious statistical methods. Yesterday, the study was retracted. The retraction was initiated by the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology after the authors refused to…

Evolution Doesn’t Look Like You Think It Does

There’s an iconic scientific image which depicts evolution, and it suggests that we went from monkey to man in six easy steps. The only problem is, that’s kinda bull. The image, now known as The March of Progress, first appeared in 1965 and has captured the imagination of wannabe scientists since. This video explains why…

A New and Aggressive Strain of HIV Is Spreading Across West Africa

A newly discovered strain of HIV is spreading across West Africa. What’s worse is that it’s particularly aggressive—and causes significantly faster progression to AIDS than other strains. Called A3/02, the strain of HIV was first observed in 2011. But now, reports Al Jazeera, researchers at Sweden’s Lund University have found that it’s spreading across the…

Scientists have found that in worms and flies, the scent of pheromones from the opposite sex speeds up the aging process and shortens life — sometimes by as much as 40%! As Ed Yong points out in his latest column, there may be a trade-off between sex and longevity. Image: Christi Gendron.

Why is your stomach growling right now?

You’re probably pretty hungry at the moment — which means your stomach is making a lot of noise. You hardly need an audio cue to let yourself know that you’re hungry, so why do our bodies send us this alarm? Image: Kate Ter Haar, on Flickr If your family is like mine, you’ve skipped breakfast…

How Two Twins Were Born 87 Days Apart

Today I found out about Amy and Katie, the twins born 87 days apart. Maria Jones-Elliot of Waterford, Ireland, was just 23 weeks pregnant when she went into labour with her twins in 2012. She was understandably worried—it isn’t until 24 weeks that doctors now consider a pregnancy viable (that is, the baby could potentially…

Nope. Scientists did not just find an ‘alcoholism gene’

A number of media outlets are reporting on the apparent discovery of an alcoholism gene — a “single fault” in your DNA that supposedly contributes to alcohol dependency. But while this new research is interesting, it’s clear that addiction is much more complex than that. Here’s what the new study found: There’s a gene, called…

Science Confirms That Old People Really Do Have a Smell

Think back to when you were a child visiting your grandparent’s home. Do you recall a distinct scent when you walked through the door? Many people do and it turns out, it’s not just in your head. Gerontologist and author of A New Wrinkle: What I Learned from Older People Who Never Acted Their Age,…

The Earth Is a Machine

The more we learn about ecosystems, the more obvious it becomes that we won’t save the Earth until we admit that our planet is a giant, incredibly complex machine that can be programmed. And, with enough study, it can be reprogrammed, too. Image via NASA One of the things I find irritating about some environmentalist…

When humans became a “crowd species,” epidemics followed

A pandemic could begin with one infected person flying across the world, shedding pathogens along the way. It’s a terrifying scenario, but it probably wouldn’t have happened thousands of years ago. Not because we didn’t have airplanes – but because humans had not yet become a crowd species. Today in the Guardian, Alok Jha reports…

I can’t stop watching this whale explode

Seriously. Can’t look away. Warning, there’s an exploding whale below the fold. It’s quite graphic. (What else you were expecting?) There are two types of exploding whales in this world. There are the whales that blow up with the assistance of explosives (à la this infamous example in Oregon), and there are the whales that…

Here’s why wine snobs should probably be called bacteria snobs

Differences in wine quality between vineyards have long been attributed to processing techniques and seasonal variation. But research now suggests that regional differences between wines are shaped by microbes — specifically, fungi and bacteria. Cultivating certain grape microbes may actually improve wine flavor. Without yeasts (fungi) and bacteria, wine wouldn’t be possible. These hungry microorganisms…