Biology

Butterfly-chasing otters will brighten your Sunday

Otters are already one of nature’s most adorable animals. But what happens when you cross a romp of wiggly otters with a single butterfly? You get the cutest little butterfly chase you’ll ever see. Having watched many a cat-on-butterfly takedown, I can’t help but feel this video would be a touch less heartwarming if the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Huge headed soldier ants are genetic throwbacks

The genus Pheidole covers a truly bewildering array of ants — but out of this thousand species, only a handful produce the incredible “supersoldier” ant, a wartime caste marked by an enormous noggin. During times of strife, the supersoldier ants fight in the front lines, and block entries to the nest with their enlarged heads,…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Octopuses rewrite their RNA to function in frigid Antarctic waters

We all know octopuses are clever, but a recent study reveals that the brainy beasts are crafty even at the molecular level. In a study published in the latest issue of Science, researchers reveal that octopuses living in the hypothermic climes of Antarctica rely not on their DNA, but the revision of their RNA, to…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Silkworms engineered to produce spider silk could lead to better body armor

Spider silk is one of those wonderful materials whose incredibly tensile properties are the stuff of myth. That’s why it’s been the target of years of transgenic research. As far back as 2000, researchers were genetically engineering other animals to produce it — like the infamous spider-goat. However, many of their attempts have had problems,…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Can Mountain Dew really dissolve a mouse carcass?

An attempt to win a small court battle this week has put Mountain Dew in peril of losing a much larger war. PepsiCo, the soft drink’s parent company, defended itself against a man who claimed he found a dead mouse in a can of the citrus soda. Experts called in by PepsiCo’s lawyers offered a…

io9 Natalie Wolchover - Life's Little Mysteries

Robots need lizard tails, say scientists

Remember the infamous scene in Speed where a bus jumps a fifty foot gap in an elevated freeway? Of course you do, because every physics teacher from that day on illustrated that moment as something that could never, ever happen. Although the freeway was elevated, the bus was careening down a flat section. It would…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

A zebra shark has produced babies by “virgin birth” four years in a row

Zebedee is a captive zebra shark in the Burj aAl Arab hotel’s aquarium in Dubai. It has never met a male shark in its entire life, and yet for the last four years it has successfully, miraculously produced healthy offspring. This shark is displaying parthenogenesis, which literally means virgin birth. In parthenogenesis, embryos develop without…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Can dogs tell when we’re talking to them?

Dogs make great companions – they’re affectionate, adorable, and excellent listeners. But do they really know when we’re talking to them? A Hungarian study tracked dogs’ eye movements in order to monitor their focus of attention, concluding that the animals pay more attention to humans after being addressed directly. Each one of 16 adult pet…

io9 Sophie Bushwick

Watch a lowly fish mimic the incredible mimic octopus

The mimic octopus is a stealthy swimmer (and a furious lover) but it’s not the only master of disguise in the ocean. While swimming off of the coast of Indonesia last July, diver Godehard Kopp noticed that a black-marble jawfish was surreptitiously hitching a ride with the mimic octopus. The mimic octopus can ape other…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

How turtles sense Earth’s drifting magnetic field

Turtles are one of many species that use their sense of Earth’s magnetic field to navigate great distances. But the magnetic field is constantly drifting, and that can cause major confusion in such a long-lived species. Here’s their ingenious solution. Species like the loggerhead turtle show incredibly fine-tuned understanding of the Earth’s magnetic field. Born…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

There’s no tougher fighter than a castrated spider

Spider sex carries a very definite danger for male arachnids: genital loss. Spiders can actually lose their reproductive organs during intercourse, turning them into spider eunuchs. But, unlike humans, this “castration” actually turns the spiders into even more aggressive fighters. It’s all down to the unusual reproductive strategies of the spider species Nephilengys malabarensis. The…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

World’s First Shark Hybrids Discovered Near Australia

For the first time ever, scientists have discovered a species of hybrid shark (a cross between two different species of the cartilaginous fishes) off the coast of Australia. Close to sixty of the hybrids (one of which is pictured up top), spanning numerous generations, have been discovered so far; and here’s the intriguing bit: this…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Parasitic flies turn bees into zombies before wiping them out completely

Something is very wrong with the bees. Since 2006, the mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder has wiped out countless honeybee colonies throughout Europe and North America, and nobody knows why. But a weird parasite may hold the answer. Honeybees are a natural target of a parasitic fly species called Apocephalus borealis. These tiny…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Antarctica’s thermal vents are a “lost world” of undiscovered species

Antarctica is the coldest, most desolate place on Earth, and the Southern Ocean that surrounds it is much the same…with one pretty massive exception. The hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor are hot, dark oases, full of previously unknown species. The East Scotia Ridge is located right at the bottom of the Southern Ocean, and…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The appendix might actually be the body’s bacteria storehouse

The appendix is probably the most famous of humanity’s vestigial organs, but it might not actually deserve the “vestigial” part of that title. The appendix may actually save vital bacteria for the body’s later use. The current scientific consensus is that the appendix was once useful when humans ate a lot of high-cellulose plants, but…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The wombat’s cubic poop is one of nature’s weirdest superpowers

Every evening, your average wombat deposits 80 to 100 dry, cube-like droppings around its territory. This nocturnal marsupial unloads four to eight of these 2-centimeter wide feces every time it pauses to excrete. This panoply of square droppings isn’t just evolution evincing a sense of potty humor. No, the wombats’ many odiferous turds help the…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Science solves the mystery of Alfred Hitchcock’s crazed birds

What made Alfred Hitchcock’s birds go bananas and start pecking out the eyeballs of the good people of Bodega Bay, California? Scientists think they’ve finally figured it out. Hitchcock’s Birds was loosely inspired by crazed seabirds who pelted the shores of North Monterey Bay, California with regurgitated anchovies back in 1961. Many scientists have since…

io9 Meredith Woerner

Pesky insects becoming resistant to genetically modified corn

One of the big advantages of genetically modified corn was its built-in pesticides, as it produces a toxin that kills destructive bugs. Now its resistance to pests is wearing off. Just as Jurassic Park taught us, life found a way. Back in 2003, a strain of genetically modified crop known as Bt corn was introduced.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Orangutans given iPads, start Skyping each other

Six months ago, orangutans at the Milwaukee Zoo were given iPads to play around with, and the gadgets proved just as addictive for them as it does for most humans. Now, orangutans are ready to start video chatting. The orangutans in the zoo have reportedly enjoyed playing games like Doodle Buddy and Flick Flick Football,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The cone snail’s eating habits will give you nightmares for the rest of your days

You may know that marine cone snails are some of the most comically toxic creatures on the planet. But have you ever seen one of these mollusks feed? Even though there’s no way one of these tiny creatures would be able to devour the human body, watching them chow down makes one prefer the neurotoxins.…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Butterfly-chasing otters will brighten your Sunday

Huge headed soldier ants are genetic throwbacks

Octopuses rewrite their RNA to function in frigid Antarctic waters

Silkworms engineered to produce spider silk could lead to better body armor

Can Mountain Dew really dissolve a mouse carcass?

Robots need lizard tails, say scientists

A zebra shark has produced babies by “virgin birth” four years in a row

Can dogs tell when we’re talking to them?

Watch a lowly fish mimic the incredible mimic octopus

How turtles sense Earth’s drifting magnetic field

There’s no tougher fighter than a castrated spider

World’s First Shark Hybrids Discovered Near Australia

Parasitic flies turn bees into zombies before wiping them out completely

Antarctica’s thermal vents are a “lost world” of undiscovered species

The appendix might actually be the body’s bacteria storehouse

The wombat’s cubic poop is one of nature’s weirdest superpowers

Science solves the mystery of Alfred Hitchcock’s crazed birds

Pesky insects becoming resistant to genetically modified corn

Orangutans given iPads, start Skyping each other

The cone snail’s eating habits will give you nightmares for the rest of your days

‘Scream 7’ Comes Home With Deleted Scenes We Hope Will Improve the Movie

A QR Code Too Small to See Hints at a New, Non-Annoying Use for the Format

Andy Weir Apologizes After ‘Star Trek’ Comment Backlash

Scientists Discover Hidden Behavior in Water That Helps Explain Why Ice Floats

The ‘Paradise’ Season 2 Finale Paved the Way for a Wildly Sci-Fi Season 3

A $1 Samsung Galaxy Smartphone Lands at Mint Mobile With Unlimited Data at 50% Off in a Clearance Push

Your Wimpy Workouts Aren’t Cutting It, Scientists Say

Anker Prime Power Bank Drops to an All-Time Low (200W, 20,100mAh, 3-Port) as Amazon Clears Out Remaining Spring Sale Stock

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

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