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Arabidopsis thaliana in the lunar regolith. Image credit: Paul et al., doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03334-8.

Plants Can Germinate and Grow in Lunar Soil: Study

May 12, 2022 by News Staff

Using samples brought back from NASA’s Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions, University of Florida biologists showed that a model terrestrial plant, Arabidopsis...

While submerged, Trechalea extensa uses a film of air to hide from predators. Image credit: Lindsey Swierk.

Some Tropical Spiders Can Stay Underwater for as Long as 30 Minutes

May 9, 2022 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Binghamton University, the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies, the California State University Sacramento and the Universidade...

Kjernsmo et al. show that brilliant iridescence and gloss found in some animals can have a protective function by working as a form of deceptive warning coloration. Image credit: Domianick.

Study: Beetle Iridescence is Form of Warning Coloration against Predators

May 4, 2022 by News Staff

Iridescence and gloss are usually associated with display, but can they also defend? In new research, scientists at the University of Bristol have tested...

Differences in Vibrio fischeri swimming patterns when in open spaces or tight spaces. Image credit: Lynch et al., doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.04.008.

Swimming Marine Bacteria Can Make Beeline to Escape Tight Spaces: Study

May 4, 2022 by News Staff

Vibrio fischeri (also known as Aliivibrio fischeri), a flagellated marine bacterium that forms a binary symbiosis with the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna...

Until now odd and even categorization, also called parity classification, had never been shown in non-human animals; Howard et al. show honeybees (Apis mellifera) can learn to do this. Image credit: xiSerge.

Honeybees Demonstrate Ability to Learn Concepts of Odd and Even

May 2, 2022 by The Conversation

New research shows that honeybees (Apis mellifera) can visually acquire the capacity to differentiate between odd and even quantities of 1-10 geometric...

Machine learning guided predictions improve enzyme performance across PETase scaffolds. Image credit: Lu et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04599-z.

Scientists Engineer New Plastic-Eating Enzyme

Apr 28, 2022 by News Staff

Plastic waste poses an ecological challenge and enzymatic degradation offers one, potentially green and scalable, route for polyesters waste recycling....

Asgard archaeon. Scale bar - 500 nm. Image credit: Imachi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1916-6.

Eukaryotic Cells Emerged in Anoxic Environment, New Study Suggests

Apr 27, 2022 by News Staff

Since the 1960s, many scientists have argued that the emergence of eukaryotes — cells containing a clearly defined nucleus — happened in response...

Craugastor cueyatl sits on a Mexican 10 pesos coin (diameter is 2.8 cm). Image credit: Jeffrey W. Streicher, Natural History Museum, London.

Scientists Discover Six New Diminutive Frog Species

Apr 27, 2022 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland has described six new species of direct-developing frogs from the Mexican...

Jaws of Glycera dibranchiata are composites of protein, melanin, and both mineral and ionic copper; to date, nanomechanical tests have correlated the ionic copper and melanin with hardness and wear resistance, but the function of protein is uncertain. Wonderly et al. characterize a Gly- and His-rich protein called multi-tasking protein (MTP) and, using recombinant protein, show that it performs six distinct functions critical for jaw formation and performance, namely (1) recruiting 22 equiv of Cu2+, (2) mediating a liquid-liquid phase separation of the MTP-copper complex, (3) catalyzing the oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Dopa) to melanin, (4) templating the interfacial polymerization of melanin, (5) integrating melanin and itself into thin films and fibers, and (6) providing intermolecular cohesion through Cu bridging. MTP achieves all these by assuming unprecedented roles as a building block, organizer, and fabricator -- a processing feat of considerable relevance to the autonomous production of other polymer composites, blends, and/or networks. Image credit: Wonderly et al., doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.04.001.

Study: Bloodworms Use Copper Harvested From Marine Sediments to Form Their Unique Jaws

Apr 26, 2022 by News Staff

Bloodworms Glycera dibranchiata are known for their unusual jaws, which are made of protein (∼50% w/w), ionic and mineralized copper (up to 10%), and...

New Species of Deep-Sea Crown Jelly Discovered in Pacific Ocean

Apr 19, 2022 by News Staff

Marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have described an unusually large and distinctive deep-sea crown jelly with...

A male Albert’s lyrebird (Menura alberti) using its powerful claws to forage in the leaf litter. Image credit: Alex Maisey.

New Light Shed on Vocal Mimicry Abilities of Albert’s Lyrebirds

Apr 19, 2022 by The Conversation

Fiona Backhouse and her colleagues from Western Sydney University, the University of Wollongong and the Australian National University have investigated...

Nannaria swiftae, male holotype from Van Buren County, Tennessee. Image credit: Hennen et al., doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1096.73485.

Seventeen New Species of Millipedes Discovered

Apr 18, 2022 by News Staff

A team of entomologists from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has described 17 new species of the millipede genus Nannaria living...

Field image of Gasteranthus extinctus. Image credit: R. Fortier.

Botanists Rediscover Cloud Forest Herb in Ecuador after 37 Years

Apr 18, 2022 by News Staff

Dr. Nigel Pitman from the Field Museum of Natural History and his colleagues from Ecuador, the United States, and France report the rediscovery of the...

Adamatzky found that size of fungal lexicon can be up to 50 words; however, the core lexicon of most frequently used words does not exceed 15-20 words; Schizophyllum commune and Omphalotus nidiformis have largest lexicon while species Cordyceps militaris and Flammulina velutipes have less extensive one. Image credit: Mohammad Mahir Borhan.

Fungi Use Electrical ‘Language’ to Communicate with Each Other: Study

Apr 15, 2022 by The Conversation

In new research, Dr. Andrew Adamatzky, a computer scientist at the Unconventional Computing Laboratory of the University of the West of England, analyzed...

The same thing that makes their eyes glow helps cats see better in dim light. Image credit: Jplm / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Why Do Eyes of Cats, Dogs and Other Animals Glow in the Dark?

Apr 14, 2022 by The Conversation

Cats and many other animals can reflect light from their eyes. That’s why their eyes will usually shine brightly in photos taken in a dimly lit room...

Prasophyllum morganii. Image credit: Ayre et al., doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.528.2.1.

Orchid Species Missing for 89 Years Rediscovered in Australia

Apr 13, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Prasophyllum morganii was first collected from a single population in Victoria, Australia, in 1929, but has not been collected since 1933. Prasophyllum...

Village weavers (Ploceus cucullatus) and their nests. Image credit: Chao Zhao.

Study: Vegetarian Weaver Birds are More Sociable than Their Insect-Eating Counterparts

Apr 12, 2022 by News Staff

New research supports an influential ecological hypothesis on social behavior first proposed 58 years ago. Village weavers (Ploceus cucullatus) and their...

Mother Nature Prefers Symmetry and Simplicity, Researchers Say

Apr 6, 2022 by News Staff

Biological structures frequently exhibit modularity and symmetry, but the origin of such trends is not well understood. It can be tempting to assume —...

Cooney et al. quantified global latitudinal trends in colorfulness by collating and analysing a photographic dataset of whole-body plumage reflectance information for 4,527 species of passerine birds. Image credit: Sandid.

Passerine Birds are More Colorful Close to Equator, Study Confirms

Apr 6, 2022 by News Staff

An analysis of a photographic dataset for more than 4,500 species of passerine birds shows that male and female birds of tropical passerine species are...