Biology

Suspended animation is no longer a pipe dream

A research scientist in a Seattle cancer laboratory has discovered the secret to reanimating organisms that had been frozen to a temperature below survivable limits. Dr. Mark Roth was inspired by cases of individuals who survived prolonged exposure to the bitter cold with few adverse affects — like Canadian toddler Erica Nordby, who wandered from…

io9 Marc Bernardin

Sperm whales’ doo-doo keeps their carbon footprint in check

Every year, the average sperm whale poops out 50 metric tons of iron, an amount equal to 30.3 2009 Hyundai Accents. These ferrous feces nourish phytoplankton at the ocean’s surface, which in turn absorb CO2 for photosynthesis. According to a recent paper published in the journal the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by researchers…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

X-ray pinups: Boners for bones

Created by a German ad firm to show off some high-def Japanese monitors for doctors, the photos that follow feature women in a total state of undress: You can see right through their clothes…and their skin. Man, doctors are kinky. (Via Copyranter)

io9 Marc Bernardin

The goblin shark of Tokyo Bay will make you soil yourself

Sharks are already scary enough, what with their razory teeth and evolutionarily honed hunting mojo. But this monster has a retractable jaw. A retractable effing jaw. You’re welcome, nightmares. The only thing keeping the Mitsukurina Owstoni, as it’s known in its native Japan, from taking up permanent residence in my fear cabinet is that this…

io9 Marc Bernardin

What makes you diabetic can also make you schizophrenic

Insulin is even more important to your health than we thought – not only can problems with it cause diabetes, but they can also cause schizophrenia. The good news? This new discovery could lead to treatments for both conditions. This link was identified in a study conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Snake populations in a steep decline across the globe

8 out of 17 snake species across the globe have gone into a death spiral – some species have shrunk nearly 90 percent in the past decade. Scientists are scrambling to understand why. According to BBC News: For reasons that are not entirely clear, some populations shrank in number abruptly around 1998. Writing in the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Watch a giant octopus live his slimy life in real time

Tired of those adorably saccharine puppy and kitten webcam shows? The Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon has set up a streaming camera showcasing their cantankerous 40-pound giant octopus, Deriq. Behold the OctoCam! Here’s the link to the OctoCam. Apparently Deriq would disassemble his live feed if he had his druthers. Says OctoCam’s operators:…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Sequencing the human genome for just thirty dollars

A year ago, it was big news that the human genome could be sequenced for just $50,000. Now, one physicist is trying to make everyone else look ridiculous by saying he can do the whole damn thing for $30. Geneticists have set an unofficial goal of $1,000 as the target price for a sequenced genome.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Check out the coral reef paradise undisturbed by humanity

Millennium Atoll, the easternmost island of the Pacific nation Kiribati, is a rare pristine example of the coral reef ecosystem. Isolated from human disruption for centuries, the atoll is full of life as it would be without humans. A team of ten researchers from a variety of American institutions conducted the first scientific survey of…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Do you suffer from sexsomnia? You’re not alone.

It’s one of the most common, and most poorly understood, sleep disorders. Sexsomniacs have sex with bedmates in their sleep, or sometimes while sleep walking. Now a new study sheds light on the phenomenon. Presented today at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, this new study of sexsomnia revealed that 7.6 percent…

io9 Annalee Newitz

A park in the Netherlands that recreates the Pleistocene

In the Oostvaardersplassen, a wildlife preserve in the Netherlands, the Pleistocene lives again. Herds of wild horses and cattle roam the region, just as they might have – along with woolly mammoths – 20 thousand years ago. What’s interesting about the Oostvaardersplassen is what it reveals about how herds of wild herbivores can change a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Drunk parrots are plummeting out of the sky in Australia

Around this time every year, red-collared lorikeets fall from the heavens on to Australia’s Northern Territory. What’s causing these loopy birds to fly under the influence? Experts suspect the birds are consuming a toxic mystery plant. Says Lisa Hansen of the Ark Animal Hospital at Palmerston, Australia: It happens every year around this season, they…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Get ready for the grasshopper and cricket swarms this summer

The US Department of Agriculture warns that this summer could bring massive outbreaks of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. Grasshopper and cricket swarms can decimate farmlands, causing economic losses as well as food shortages. From the USDA website: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is expecting potentially heavy grasshopper outbreaks…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Saturn’s moon Titan is (probably) home to hydrogen breathing microbes

If life exists on Saturn’s hydrogen- and methane-rich moon Titan, there will be two sure signs: hydrogen depletion near the lunar surface, and less acetylene than we’d expect. The Cassini probe has found both. So…could there be life on Titan? Because Titan is so cold, it has lakes of methane and ethane where there would…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Mysterious “crazy bird” harasses Florida pedestrians

In the post ‘The art of bird sketching,’ Kees Moeliker of Improbable Research writes about an unknown avian menace that’s been recently assailing unsuspecting West Palm Beach pedestrians. Witness local news reenactments at their finest. Wpbf.com reports: “Some dog walkers in downtown West Palm Beach [Florida] claim they have been attacked by a ‘crazy bird’…

io9 Kees Moeliker - Improbable Research

Man infects himself with a computer virus

As humans implant mechanical devices into their bodies – starting with relatively simple devices like pacemakers – computer viruses become just as dangerous as their biological equivalent. One man made himself a guinea pig to test this potential threat. Dr. Mark Gasson of the University of Reading in the UK infected a computer chip with…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A carnivorous squid that lived 500 million years ago

A new fossil survey has revealed cephalopods like this early squid were ruling the seas over 500 million years ago. This is far earlier than previously believed. Meet Nectocaris pteryx, the ancient predator with two tentacles. Though researchers had seen fossils of the Nectocaris pteryx before, a recent survey of new fossils found in British…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Why swarming locusts grow giant brains

When the conditions are just right, solitary grasshoppers undergo a terrifying transformation that converts them into masses of swarming locusts that destroy crops. New research reveals why swarming locusts grow much bigger brains than ordinary grasshoppers. During times of scarcity, locusts default to a solitary form, actively avoiding others of their species. However, when rain…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Movie soundtracks are designed to freak us out on an evolutionary level

According to evolutionary biologists, movie music contains “unexpected” sounds that trigger primal reactions from audiences. In other words, our brains are hardwired to respond with fear to the Jaws soundtrack. In a study led by evolutionary ecologist Daniel Blumstein of UCLA and published in the journal Biology Letters, researchers analyzed popular horror, drama, war, and…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar

You wish your swimming buddy was a 3.5 ton elephant

Photographer Cesare Naldi captured Rajan, a 60-year-old elephant, and his 58-year-old driver Nasru going for their morning swim off of Havelock Island in the Bay of Bengal. These photos won Naldi Viewers’ Choice in National Geographic’s 2009 International Photography competition. Says Naldi: I took the pictures during the early morning around 8am as Rajan crossed…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Suspended animation is no longer a pipe dream

Sperm whales’ doo-doo keeps their carbon footprint in check

X-ray pinups: Boners for bones

The goblin shark of Tokyo Bay will make you soil yourself

What makes you diabetic can also make you schizophrenic

Snake populations in a steep decline across the globe

Watch a giant octopus live his slimy life in real time

Sequencing the human genome for just thirty dollars

Check out the coral reef paradise undisturbed by humanity

Do you suffer from sexsomnia? You’re not alone.

A park in the Netherlands that recreates the Pleistocene

Drunk parrots are plummeting out of the sky in Australia

Get ready for the grasshopper and cricket swarms this summer

Saturn’s moon Titan is (probably) home to hydrogen breathing microbes

Mysterious “crazy bird” harasses Florida pedestrians

Man infects himself with a computer virus

A carnivorous squid that lived 500 million years ago

Why swarming locusts grow giant brains

Movie soundtracks are designed to freak us out on an evolutionary level

You wish your swimming buddy was a 3.5 ton elephant

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