Life
- Animals
A new species of hedgehog stands out for its short spikes
At first, the eastern forest hedgehog was mistaken for its cousin. Dental and DNA analyses eventually confirmed the critter is a species new to science.
- Animals
Why do some lizards and snakes have horns?
These reptiles’ horns can be an asset or a liability. A new study looks at the evolutionary roots of this wild headgear.
- Environment
Landscape Explorer shows how much the American West has changed
The online tool stitches together historical images into a map that’s helping land managers make decisions about preservation and restoration.
- Neuroscience
Electrical brain implants may help patients with severe brain injuries
After deep brain stimulation, five patients with severe brain injuries improved their scores on a test of cognitive function.
- Animals
Fish beware: Bottlenosed dolphins may be able to pick up your heartbeat
Fish, sharks and platypuses are adept at sensing electrical signals living things give off. Bottlenosed dolphins make that list too, studies suggests.
- Animals
These nesting penguins nod off over 10,000 times a day, for seconds at a time
Micronaps net chinstrap penguins over 11 hours of sleep a day, offering some rest while staying vigilant against predators and competitors.
- Animals
This bird hasn’t been seen in 38 years. Its song may help track it down
Using bioacoustics, South American scientists are eavesdropping on a forest in hopes of hearing the song of the long-missing purple-winged ground dove.
- Animals
One mountain in Brazil is home to a surprising number of these parasitic wasps
Darwin wasps were thought to prefer temperate areas. But researchers scoured a mountain in the Brazilian tropics and found nearly a hundred species.
- Life
Some picky Australian mosquitoes may target frog nostrils for blood
The insects seem to sip from nowhere else on frogs’ bodies. Thinner skin or denser blood vessels near the nostrils might explain why.
- Animals
These bats are the only mammals known to mate more like birds
Male serotine bats have penises too large for penetration. To mate, the animals rub their genitals against each other, somewhat like birds’ cloacal kiss.
- Health & Medicine
A brain-monitoring device may one day take the guesswork out of anesthesia
The automated device pairing brain activity and dosing kept two macaques sedated for 125 minutes, raising hopes of precision anesthesia for people.
- Animals
The first embryos from a mammal have now been grown in space
Mouse embryos in space can develop into clusters of cells called blastocysts. The result is a step toward understanding how human embryos will fare.
