Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

Giant Australian cuttlefish cross-dresses to mate. Small males temporarily look like females, mating right under the noses of the big boys!

German dog learneh through fast mapping, much the same way children learn words. So why don’t other dogs have such a good vocabulary?

Spiders stick to surfaces with tiny hairs, using van der Waals forces. Small critters use small forces to big advantage.

Old museum collection sheds light on vanishing land snails of Polynesia.

Studies of mitochondria show that polar people evolved greater ability to create heat; study has health implications for energy-deficiency diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Flower power: Orchid makes a chemical that attracts wasps by mimicking female pheromone.

Genes of giant tortoises reflect ancient volcanic eruption in Galapagos Islands.

A new study reveals rapid evolution of white-footed mice in Chicago, in just 150 years.

Rock climbing may be harming snail populations along the Niagara Escarpment.

Stanford researchers learn that fast-moving elephants are running, not walking.