Biology

Some of the world’s biggest trees are also the most vulnerable

It seems counterintuitive, but new research suggests that it is actually the world’s biggest trees that suffer the most from climate change and forest fragmentation. The Guardian’s John Vidal writes: The biggest trees in the world, known as the true ecological kings of the jungle, are dying off rapidly as roads, farms and settlements fragment…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Have we been looking at Multiple Sclerosis all wrong?

Multiple sclerosis is a confusing disease. Widely regarded as an autoimmune problem, it affects millions of sufferers, and we still don’t have a complete grasp of what causes it. Part of this problem is due to the fact that every time we find something that seems to be a factor in how it works, that…

io9 Tim Barribeau

How the puffer fish gets you high, zombifies you, and kills you

Puffer fish, or fugu, is well-known for being a dish that stands a good chance of killing the person it’s served to. But people still eat it — partly because some people like living life on the edge, but mostly because all people like getting high. Find out how the puffer fish helps them get…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The scientists behind Mitochondrial Eve tell us about the “lucky mother” who changed human evolution forever

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the discovery of Mitochondrial Eve, a common ancestor of all humanity who helped rewrite the story of human evolution. In honor of this anniversary, we talked to the scientists who started it all. https://gizmodo.com/how-mitochondrial-eve-connected-all-humanity-and-rewrot-5878996 The original paper, “Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution”, appeared in the January 1987 issue…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Why locust swarms seem to hit those who are already suffering the most

With a swarming locust consuming its own bodyweight in food every day, the many-tonne swarms can utterly destroy a farmer’s livelihood. But why is it that they seem to target farms that already aren’t doing well? According to new research, it all comes down to nitrogen. The Oedaleus asiaticus in Northern Asia strongly prefers foods…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Breakthrough treatment could fight both leukemia and breast cancer

A new avenue of treatment could fight two of the most prominent cancers — effectively hitting both leukemia and breast cancer. We could soon be inhibiting tumor growth by targeting a single protein, and this could revolutionize treatments of both diseases. Two papers published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine examine the protein…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Why would a blind, subterranean mole need shiny fur?

When animals have shiny feathers or fur, it’s usually for some sort of visual display or communication. But what about fauna that lives underground? Meet Chrysochloris asiatica, the adorable Cape golden mole of South Africa. This species and the other golden moles are named for the characteristic iridescence of their fur. But why do these…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Was Robert Hooke really the greatest asshole in the history of science?

Robert Hooke discovered the cell, established experimentation as crucial to scientific research, and did pioneering work in optics, gravitation, paleontology, architecture, and more. Yet history dismissed and forgot him… all because he pissed off Isaac Newton, probably the most revered scientist who ever lived. This seventeenth century polymath, who has been called the English answer…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Do girls naturally prefer dolls to trucks? Evidence from 2 primate studies

Are gender roles in-born, or are they imprinted upon us? Science blogger Paul F. Norris went searching for answers in the scientific literature and came up with two incredible studies… one on rhesus monkeys, and the other on chimpanzees. What he discovered sheds some thought-provoking light on the nature/nurture debate over gender identity. https://jezebel.com/video-of-little-girl-getting-pissed-off-about-pink-toys-5871009 Last…

io9 Paul F. Norris -- AnimalWise

Watch a glowing mouse embryo grow from cell to creature in one minute

A mouse embryo grows to maturity in just three weeks, transforming from a microscopic blip to a tiny, wriggling rodent. University of Cambridge biologist Erica Watson studies this transformation because the developing mouse shares with humans many of the same genetic signals that cause this incredible transformation. In this video, she shares some of the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Psychedelic Petri dishes turn lab work into a freakout session

Can you guess the subject of this photograph? It’s a bloodshot alien eyeball! Just kidding, although all that red totally resembles vasculature don’t you think? Don’t worry, the real answer is just as awesome: believe it or not, this is actually a Petri dish, created by artist Klari Reis. Reis uses individually-crafted dishes like the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How to grow a 100-pound tumor

Tumors the size and weight of another human — how on Earth does this happen? This medical anomaly makes for interesting television specials and news blurbs, but what about the lives and circumstances of the people involved? Let’s a take a look at the type of tumors grow to this size, the rather simple reasons…

io9 Keith Veronese

Snoring dormouse is so adorable your head will explode

What you’re seeing here is a hibernating dormouse filmed by Dave Williams of the Surrey Wildlife Trust Mammal Project. Despite his log-sawing, this slumbering little guy isn’t in any trouble — he’s just an unusually stentorian sleeper. Dormice can hibernate for up to one-third of their lives. They wake up in the springtime (minus one-quarter…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

You are biologically wired to disagree with [insert political ideology here]

Evidence continues to mount that your political leanings are determined, to some extent, by aspects of your biology. The latest installment in this emerging area of research comes from the University of Nebraska, in a study that looks at peoples’ responses to certain forms of visual stimuli — politically themed or otherwise. Wired’s Brandon Keim…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

A Machine That Turns a Tree’s Rings into a Musical Score

Check out a modified record player that reads growth rings from a tree like musical notes. Created by German artist Bartholomäus Traubeck, Years takes the annual rings that you find in cross-sections of trees and converts them into piano music. He describes the process on his website: A tree’s year rings are analysed for their…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Bizarre History of Pregnancy Tests

Nowadays, finding out if you’re pregnant is relatively easy — but it wasn’t always that way. Over the centuries, people have come up with downright strange and sometimes revolting tests to figure out whether or not a person is knocked up. Some of them were useless, some required being a chemist in the bathroom, and…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

This bizarre tulip-shaped creature is related to nothing else on Earth

This is Siphusauctum gregarium, a creature that lived in the ocean 500 million years ago. It’s so completely strange that it’s taken scientists 30 years just to figure out how to describe it. It’s literally like nothing else on Earth. Siphusauctum gregarium is one of the so-called “problematica”, a group of about twenty other similarly…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Heartbreaking photographs capture the facial expressions of animals

National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore has a mission: to shoot (with a camera) Earth’s endangered species in a studio setting, so that human viewers are forced to confront exactly who’s going extinct face-to-face. So far, Joel’s photographed 1,800 species, and shooting these creatures presents its own set of challenges. Namely, his subjects love defecating on…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

A snowy owl makes the trip from the Arctic to Hawaii, where it is promptly shot

Every few years, beautiful two-foot-tall snowy owls migrate south in impressive numbers from the Arctic, in what bird watchers call an “irruption.” But this year, the regal-looking birds (which belong to the same species as Harry Potter’s Hedwig) are showing up farther south and in greater numbers than ever before. For some this is great…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Stunning short film explores the underwater realm of manatees

In Sirenia Shadows, a short film by video production house Built By Wildman, a submarine cameraman captures the endangered West Indian manatee placidly gliding through Florida’s Crystal River. It’s a marvel seeing these sea cows serenely traverse the riverbed (without the risk of getting skimmed by some gaudy cigarette boat). [Via TDW]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Some of the world’s biggest trees are also the most vulnerable

Have we been looking at Multiple Sclerosis all wrong?

How the puffer fish gets you high, zombifies you, and kills you

The scientists behind Mitochondrial Eve tell us about the “lucky mother” who changed human evolution forever

Why locust swarms seem to hit those who are already suffering the most

Breakthrough treatment could fight both leukemia and breast cancer

Why would a blind, subterranean mole need shiny fur?

Was Robert Hooke really the greatest asshole in the history of science?

Do girls naturally prefer dolls to trucks? Evidence from 2 primate studies

Watch a glowing mouse embryo grow from cell to creature in one minute

Psychedelic Petri dishes turn lab work into a freakout session

How to grow a 100-pound tumor

Snoring dormouse is so adorable your head will explode

You are biologically wired to disagree with [insert political ideology here]

A Machine That Turns a Tree’s Rings into a Musical Score

The Bizarre History of Pregnancy Tests

This bizarre tulip-shaped creature is related to nothing else on Earth

Heartbreaking photographs capture the facial expressions of animals

A snowy owl makes the trip from the Arctic to Hawaii, where it is promptly shot

Stunning short film explores the underwater realm of manatees

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