Fruit flies beat their wings 250 times a second. How fast do they sense attitude and adjust their wings to avoid crashing? Ultra fast! More
Fruit Fly Flight
Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
Jumping on water: Water strider shows the way
Biology knows best: Robot designers mimic the water-strider; make robot that jumps on water! More
How climate drives bird migration
A strange form of bird migration fails to follow the usual seasonal pattern. How does climate set the pine siskin to flight? More
Bombardier beetle spray-bottle explained at last!
Tiny, fast explosions inside the bombardier beetle make a toxic spray, then heat and shoot it at the target. Here's how! More
Continental connection: North, South America linked much earlier than thought
The American continents were joined 10 million years before the accepted date. What does this say about life in the Americas? More
Chameleon’s color trick explained
Crystals in skin cells give the panther chameleon a quick color change, and also a built-in cooling system. More
Birds cross Himalayas
Bar-headed geese hug the terrain as they cross the tallest mountains. Why does that take less energy than flying the shortest route? More
Bacteria rule: Life found deep beneath Antarctic ice!
In the cold, black depths of Antarctica, a microbial community is doing just fine, thank you very much. The energy comes from “eating” More
Ancient water = ancient habitat?
Geologic dating shows that water has been trapped more than 2 kilometers underground since before the Cambrian explosion. This water More
Store more. Much more!
The explosion of data — in meteorology, genetics, spying and physics — requires new storage technology. DNA has been storing data for More
Tales of the whales
Some people blame strandings on a noisy ocean. A new study shows that the endangered North Atlantic right whale is shouting to be More
Assembly-lines don’t work for ants!
Specialization may work in factories, but it does not make ant colonies more efficient. More
“Store that fat” says new gene. Is obesity explained?
New discovery shows how all animals store fat in cells, could lead to advances in fight against obesity or diabetes. More
Music and speech
Most music is built on the 12-tone “chromatic” scale. Does this reflect chance, or the basic structure of the human voice? New study More
Flying with bats
New study shows how they stay aloft, turn on a dime. Freeze-frame pix of bats flying show unexpectedly complex flight patterns. More