Biology(Page 4)

A guide to life, on Earth and beyond, including the top news about plants, animals, and physiology.

Latest in Biology

a lemur in a tree

Lemurs keep evolving new species, even after 50 million years

By Margherita Bassi

Paranthropus boisei. Reproduction of an adult skull. 1,8 million years ago. Pleistocene. Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

This overlooked human ancestor wielded tools with a gorilla-like grip

Close up of stink bug on leaf

These stink bugs use cordycep-like fungus to fend off parasitic wasps

a baby sea turtle crawling on sand

Green sea turtle no longer Endangered

By Laura Baisas

Close up of Neanderthal skull

Lead has been poisoning humans for over 2 million years

a mushroom with a white stem and a red cap with white dots

Mario’s super-sized mushroom exists in real life

bat hanging upside down from tree branch at night

Why do bats spread so many diseases? They’re evolutionary marvels.

Interstellar dust in the Carina Nebula.

Life on Earth may have come from cosmic dust

a lobster with orange and black coloring

Rare 1-in-30-million calico lobster makes her spooky debut

By Laura Baisas

peeled and open kiwis. they have green fruit with brown skins

Constipated? Try kiwis.

By Margherita Bassi

two gecko species

Geckos living in the driest place on Earth stump scientists

By Margherita Bassi

an illustration of a marine reptile swimming amongst fish

Jurassic ‘sword dragon’ uncovered in England

By Laura Baisas

three birds crowding around a white foraging puzzle

Young birds get by with a little help from their…siblings

By Laura Baisas

a brown dog holds a plush monkey

Dogs really can be addicted to their toys

By Laura Baisas

Elephant bones at excavation site next to chalkboard labeling it

Ancient humans butchered giant elephants with thumb-sized tools

Smelt fish under ice. Fish spawning in river. Pacific smelt

Fake fish blood may save your ice cream from freezer burn

a fly with green and black coloring lands on a green leaf

Surgical tools could get a bug-inspired upgrade

By Laura Baisas

Front and rear view of small porcelain crab

Newly discovered deep-sea lanternshark glows in the waters near Australia

a bird with aqua green feathers and red feathers that look like cheeks

Explore a bird database with 11,500 species

By Margherita Bassi

a purple octopus on the bottom of the ocean

13 inspiring photos of thriving deep-sea animals

By Popular Science Team

Scientist drilling permafrost core sample in Arctic tunnel

Researchers are reanimating 40,000-year-old microbes

a side by side image of a blue container of white yogurt on the left and two ants on a log on the right

Ants can be used to make ‘tangy’ yogurt

By Laura Baisas

an older couple holding hands as the sun sets

Women really do live longer than men. Here’s why.

By Laura Baisas

A reconstruction of Breugnathair elgolensis

Cat-sized Jurassic reptile had the jaws of a python

sea sponge among coral underwater

Sea sponges may have been Earth’s first living creatures

a venus fly trap closes on a fly.

Venus fly traps’ death-grip trigger discovered

By Laura Baisas

a toilet in the woods, covered by wooden panels

World’s first mushroom-powered toilet could replace stinky porta-potties

By Margherita Bassi

a new broccoli growing

New broccoli hybrid can thrive in colder climates

By Laura Baisas

A blue, semi-transparent anatomical illustration of a human torso, neck, and shoulders from the front. The main focus is on the spine and nervous system, which are highlighted with glowing red lines running down the center of the back and branching out into the chest. The background is solid black.

Does vagus nerve stimulation work? A scientific cure-all explained.

By Clarissa Brincat

a graphic of the brain with several multi-colored balls inside

Why some memories stick while others fade

By Laura Baisas

a woman sneezing by a window with sun streaming in

UV light can fight indoor allergens

By Laura Baisas

Homo habilis mandible shown with the two tooth pits that were documented and magnified separately.

Leopards may have feasted on our earliest ancestors

a small, brown prairie dog popping out of a hole

Tiny prairie dogs’ poop play a mighty role in grasslands

By Margherita Bassi

a red panda in a tree

11 adorable photos of red pandas to celebrate International Red Panda Day

By Popular Science Team

Side by side comparisons of a blue jay, green jay, and a hybrid between the two birds with green plummage and a blue head

First known wild ‘grue jay’ hybrid spotted in Texas

Red Hind Grouper in coral reef

Eavesdropping on grunting groupers reveals how the fish communicate

a black and white dog surrounded by dog toys

Dogs can learn and remember how toys work

By Laura Baisas

a map showing where birds are migrating

262 million birds forecast to take to the skies tonight

By Laura Baisas

Close up of Australian sleepy lizard with its mouth open on the ground outdoors

A zookeeper’s burnt lunch revealed a lizard’s secret survival skill

a vet examining a seagull wrapped in a towel with a fishing bobber stuck in its mouth

Seagull survives swallowing a giant fish hook–thanks to local vets

By Laura Baisas

five old fashioned alarm clocks in a rowCREDIT: Catherine McQueen via Getty Images

Ending daylight saving time could be better for our health

By Laura Baisas

a rectangular cassette tape with lots of loose brown tape coming out

A single DNA cassette tape could store billions of photos

By Laura Baisas

Matador bug and a leaf-footed bug with impressive, large, colorful flags on its hind tibia.

This bug uses ‘red flags’ to tell predators to buzz off

By Laura Baisas

A mating pair of octopuses with one of the animals raising its arm up

Octopus arms are the animal kingdom’s most flexible

By Laura Baisas

a leopard seal on an ice flow with its mouth open

Leopard seals sing like the Beatles

By Avery Schluyer Nunn

A green chameleon on branch extending tongue to catch an insect

A chameleon’s ‘ballistic tongue’ may inspire blood clot-clearing robots

a turtle hatchling on a large pile of brown seaweed

Sea turtle hatchlings struggle through a smelly seaweed maze

By Laura Baisas

a close up of a bee on a bright green leaf

Bees have thousands of eyes

By Margherita Bassi

a fish with bright blue markings swim in a tank

A rainbow of fish dazzles in New Jersey

By Laura Baisas

a squirrel holding an acorn while it sits on a logCREDIT: Sandra Standbridge via Getty Images

Rodents’ secret weapon? Thumbnails.

By Laura Baisas

Illustration of Spicomellus dinosaur

Stubby dinosaur took spikey armor to the extreme

a clear squid like creature dotted with small orange circles

9 other worldly images of ‘The Radiant Sea’

By Popular Science Team

Mother and child orangutan in tree nest

Baby orangutans spy on mom to build cozy treehouse nests

A large female black mountain gorilla on all fours turns her head to the camera, while its young offspring with fluffy black fur rides on its back, also looking toward the camera. They are surrounded by dense green foliage in a natural habitat.

Female mountain gorillas wield a lot of power

By RJ Mackenzie

a shark tooth with jagged edges on a black background

Sharks may be losing their bite

By Lauren Leffer

six glowing succulents in shades of blue, yellow, red, green, and a mixture of all

Glow-in-the-dark succulents are here

By Laura Baisas

a curled yellow deep sea worm

Deep sea worm wears Rembrandt’s favorite toxic color

By Laura Baisas

A super rare, blue lobster escapes the dinner plate

By Laura Baisas

an aerial view of a humpback whale spinning in a circle with nets made out of bubbles

Humpbacks are the only whales that can feed with bubble nets

By Laura Baisas

Artist's illustration of Istiorachis macarthurae on a sandy beach

Retired doctor discovers new dinosaur species deep in a museum archive

close up of Cuban brown anole

These New Orleans lizards are full of lead

Cooked shrimp on plate with fork and cilantro

Walmart’s ‘radioactive shrimp’ recall isn’t a reason to fear irradiated food

By Andrew Paul, Laura Baisas

Petralona skull of ancient hominin

Hominin skull discovered in 1960 finally gets an accurate age

close up of a spectral bat. it has large ears, small teeth, and a pointy nose

World’s largest carnivorous bats are big softies

By Laura Baisas