Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

Are humans the only animals that will help another animal without any expectation of reward? Not according to a recent study, which shows they’re willing to help unrelated apes.

New study shows how they stay aloft, turn on a dime. Freeze-frame pix of bats flying show unexpectedly complex flight patterns. Meet evolution’s second answer to the problem of vertebrate flight.

Toxins are nature’s best defenses. The Asian snake can get toxin by eating toxic food. If an Asian snake offers to let you gobble its pretty neck, don’t be tempted!

How’s a hungry fish supposed to make a living in the shallow water below tropical mangrove trees? Hint: Squirt, squirt!

After its seed sprouts, this parasitic plant must find a host in four days, or else it dies. Solution? Smell the host plant’s unique bouquet.

Malaria harms people and mosquitoes. Some skeeters already kill malaria. Shouldn’t we work together to control this global blood parasite?

Small rodents spread lots of seeds in nature, but they were absent from New Zealand. Do giant grasshoppers replace mice and rats in transporting seeds?

They may seem like the lowliest members of the animal kingdom, but dung beetles around the world sport a spectacular diversity of ‘horns.’ The strange appendages have forced biologists to reassess their understanding of evolution.

The gawky walk of a bird: The head is still, then it lunges forward. A new study tells why. (Hint: It’s not just to look funny.)

Birds musta gotten a lesson from fighter planes: Bird wings get lift from a leading edge vortex, just like fighter planes.