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Updated: 20 hours 38 min ago

A shark survived being stabbed through the head by a swordfish

Tue, 10/01/2024 - 06:00
Fishers in Albania caught a blue shark with an 18-centimetre fragment of swordfish bill embedded in its skull, in the first known case of a shark surviving such an injury
Categories: Fossils

Bacteria can work as a team to spot prime numbers and vowels

Fri, 09/27/2024 - 07:00
Bacteria that have been genetically engineered to work like computers can solve a range of problems, using a very simple type of artificial intelligence
Categories: Fossils

These fish have evolved legs that can find and taste buried food

Thu, 09/26/2024 - 11:00
Northern sea robins are formidable marine hunters, and they owe their success to modified fin rays that let them find prey buried in the seabed
Categories: Fossils

Dinosaurs may have run like emus by keeping one foot on the ground

Wed, 09/25/2024 - 14:00
It seems to be more energy efficient for emus to keep one foot on the ground when running at a moderate pace, and the same may have been true for dinosaurs
Categories: Fossils

Richard Powers's new novel is a beautiful love letter to our oceans

Wed, 09/25/2024 - 13:00
From colonialism to AI, this Booker-longlisted novel urges us to wake up to how we treat wild creatures and places
Categories: Fossils

Axolotls seem to pause their biological clocks and stop ageing

Tue, 09/24/2024 - 11:00
In most vertebrates, a pattern of chemical marks on the genome is a reliable indicator of age, but in axolotls this clock seems to stop after the first four years of life
Categories: Fossils

Octopuses and fish hunt as a team to catch more prey

Mon, 09/23/2024 - 11:00
An octopus will work with several different species of fish to find and catch prey - and punch those that aren't helping
Categories: Fossils

Giant rats trained to sniff out illegal wildlife trade

Thu, 09/19/2024 - 07:00
African giant pouched rats proved adept at detecting four commonly trafficked products derived from endangered species including rhino horn and elephant ivory
Categories: Fossils

The cactus family’s surprising evolutionary journey

Thu, 09/19/2024 - 04:00
We are finally untangling the ancient history of the cactus family, revealing some surprising forces that shaped these plants – ­­­­­­and prompting concern for their future
Categories: Fossils

Is it really cheaper to cultivate your own fruit and vegetables?

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 13:00
Our gardening columnist James Wong isn’t convinced, and does the maths to get some answers
Categories: Fossils

Air jacket helps 'scuba-diving' lizards stay underwater for longer

Tue, 09/17/2024 - 19:01
Some lizards dive into streams to escape predators, and a specialised bubble-breathing technique enables them to stay submerged for up to 18 minutes
Categories: Fossils

Some flowers may have evolved long stems to be better ‘seen’ by bats

Tue, 09/17/2024 - 11:00
Echolocating bats can more easily find and pollinate long-stemmed flowers that stand out from the surrounding foliage, which may be why this floral trait evolved
Categories: Fossils

Tiny chameleon spotted by tourists in Madagascar is new to science

Mon, 09/16/2024 - 05:26
A species of leaf chameleon newly named Brookesia nofy was discovered in a patch of coastal rainforest, a highly threatened habitat in Madagascar
Categories: Fossils

Antidote to deadly pesticides boosts bee survival

Fri, 09/13/2024 - 12:00
Feeding bees edible bits of hydrogel increases their odds of surviving pesticide exposure by 30 per cent
Categories: Fossils

Cats have brain activity recorded with the help of crocheted hats

Fri, 09/13/2024 - 10:00
Custom-made wool caps have enabled scientists to record electroencephalograms in awake cats for the first time, which could help assess their pain levels
Categories: Fossils

Is life better as a dog? A philosopher investigates

Wed, 09/11/2024 - 13:00
What is it like to be a dog? And what can we learn from them? Mark Rowlands's take, in his book The Happiness of Dogs, is full of insights, finds Abigail Beall
Categories: Fossils

Fish size themselves up in a mirror to decide if they can win a fight

Wed, 09/11/2024 - 05:00
Cleaner wrasse use their reflection to build a mental image of their body size, which they use to compare themselves to rivals before picking a fight
Categories: Fossils

Ants change the way they build nests to stop diseases spreading

Tue, 09/10/2024 - 12:05
When worker ants are exposed to a pathogenic fungus, they build nests that are more compartmentalised to reduce the risk of an epidemic
Categories: Fossils

How the hidden lives of dinosaurs are being revealed by new technology

Tue, 09/10/2024 - 11:00
From migrating sauropods and semi-aquatic predators to doting parents, palaeontologists are finally uncovering the mysteries of the lifestyles of dinosaurs
Categories: Fossils

Watch eels escape from the stomachs of fish after being swallowed

Mon, 09/09/2024 - 11:00
X-ray videos of Japanese eels swallowed whole by dark sleeper fish have revealed how the eels can make a daring escape from being digested
Categories: Fossils

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