New Scientist

A serendipitous lab accident revealed that hibernating bumblebee queens can make it through days of flooding, revealing that they are less vulnerable to extreme weather than previously thought

Starfish feet are coordinated purely through mechanical loading, enabling the animals to bounce rhythmically along the seabed without a central nervous system

One species of nematode worm turns into a kin-devouring nightmare if it grows up in a crowded environment with a poor diet

Conservationists think tweaking pandas’ diets might shift their gut microbiomes in a way that could encourage them to mate

The hatching of the 250th California condor chick at the San Diego Zoo marks a notable milestone for a species that narrowly evaded extinction

Bonobos have long been regarded as the peaceful ape, in sharp contrast with violent chimpanzees, but a study based on thousands of hours of observations suggests the real story is more nuanced

A once-independent bacterium has evolved into an organelle that provides nitrogen to algal cells – an event so rare that there are only three other known cases

Since 2012, Mary Jo Hoffman has taken one snap a day of the natural objects around her. She explains what lies behind two of them - and what the "art of noticing" has brought to her life

An enzyme in a cyanobacterium can take the unusual form a triangle containing ever-smaller triangular gaps, making a fractal pattern

We have enough genetic material to bring back the northern white rhino, but doing so won’t be easy

California’s rare sequoias rely on high heat to disperse their seeds, and efforts to reduce the size of wildfires may be damaging their ability to reproduce

A popular idea links primates living on the ground with a tendency for right-handedness, but findings from urban langurs in India cast doubt on the idea

Trees use circadian genes to time photosynthesis and reproduction – but as temperatures rise, the clocks may not work as well

Amino acids and other molecules important to the origin of life can be enriched within networks of rocky fractures, which would have been common on the early Earth

Garter snakes may recognise their own scent and react differently when it is altered, hinting at self-awareness in reptiles

Long considered damaging to walls, a living coating of ivy can actually stabilise temperature and humidity and lower your energy bills, finds James Wong

There are thousands of species at risk of extinction, and we can’t save them all – how do conservationists think about which ones to focus on?

Horses show signs of stress if people touch them while they are tethered, but they appear much less anxious if they are able to walk away

Japanese tits sometimes flutter their wings in an apparent gesture of encouraging their mate to enter their shared nest first

A 38-centimetre-tall deer, found in an arid region in the central Andes, is the first new deer species found in South America for over 60 years