Biology(Page 7)

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

Latest in Biology

a large bird with a long neck and black plumage called an emu walking around in nature

Emus might not be the ‘world’s dumbest bird’ after all

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of two orchids and their root systems. one is growing near decomposing wood and fungi and has more flowers. the other is still growing, but does not have as many flowers

Parasitic orchids ditch photosynthesis for fungi

By Laura Baisas

Young woman yawning, close up

Why do some people need less sleep?

By Clarissa Brincat

a close up of a diver wearing a mask and a fish swimming towards him

Wild fish can recognize human divers

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of an extinct big cat about the size of a leopard. it is brown with sharp teeth

Skull of a 30-million-year-old apex predator discovered in Egypt

By Laura Baisas

africa and the middle east seen from space

New theory ups the odds that intelligent aliens exist

By Lauren Leffer

a cuttlefish swimming in the ocean

Cuttlefish ink can help keep sharks away from humans

By Laura Baisas

a seal with grey coloring wearing an orange heart rate monitor around its abdomen

Baby seals are wearing heart monitors–for science

By Laura Baisas

one jaw fossil and six vertebrae fossils lined up

500,000 years ago, a bunch of animals fell into a Florida sink hole

By Laura Baisas

a turtle peeks its head out of the water

These sea turtles ‘dance’ when magnetic fields lead them to a snack

By Laura Baisas

A blow fly larva disguised as a termite, antennae and all.

Rare fly species wears fake termite head to infiltrate nests

By Laura Baisas

a long python snake coiled in the grass with its head poking up

Hunting for Burmese pythons is best done in the dark

By Laura Baisas

a close up of a brightly colored mantis shrimp. they have two buldging eyes and greenish-yellow side appendages that they use to punch

How mantis shrimp protect their powerful ‘fists’ of fury

By Laura Baisas

a black and white dog called a border collie sniffs around green grass

Border collies out-sniff some hunting dogs in scientific smell competition

By Laura Baisas

a tiny green frog looking up from water

Frogs rescued from a deadly fungus welcome 33 froglets

By Laura Baisas

a close up of a human ear

Most humans haven’t moved these muscles in 25 million years

By Laura Baisas

a woman reaches to scratch a red rash on her upper back

Why scratching a rash really does make it worse

By Laura Baisas

a spider with a large white fungus covering its head

Fungus-infected zombie spiders discovered in Northern Ireland

By Laura Baisas

A polar bear still hunting on the sea ice of Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada.

How do polar bears keep ice off their fur? Grease.

By Laura Baisas

Finally, scientists get a penguin’s-eye-view of the world

By Laura Baisas

a baby swell shark swimming in a tank

Aquarium surprised by shark born in a tank without males

By Laura Baisas

Tiny pieces of plastic were found lodged in blood vessels in the brains of mice.

Microplastics look like a ‘car crash’ in mice brains

Visitors seen taking photos of the Corpse Flower's blossom at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. One of the biggest and smelliest flowers in the world blooms at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in Australia on January 23, 2025. It last bloomed in Sydney in 2010.

5 facts about corpse flowers that don’t stink

By Laura Baisas

a scientist holds a large rescued sea turtle in a lab

Dozens of cold-stunned turtles rescued in Florida

By Laura Baisas

Close up of baboon face

Alpha male baboons’ obsession with females stresses them out

the stone remains of a castle, revealing an archway, wall, and a tower

In a global crisis, working harder isn’t the best solution

By Laura Baisas

a scientist in a lab pierces the inside of an oyster to extract blood

Oyster blood could fight superbugs

By Laura Baisas

a close up of a dog's nose

Dogs sniff out two new species of truffle

By Laura Baisas

Three chimpanzees in an enclosure at the Kumamoto Sanctuary holding leafy branches.

Peeing is contagious for chimpanzees

By Laura Baisas

Two little blue penguins at a nest in Timaru, New Zealand.

When penguins divorce, the whole colony is impacted

By Laura Baisas

The great green bush-cricket.

Parasitic crickets have a few moves to outsmart ants

By Laura Baisas

cobra snake closeup

Scientists use AI to create completely new anti-venom proteins

By Lauren Leffer

Two feral dogs walking near abandoned Ferris wheel in Chernobyl

Chernobyl’s feral dogs are genetically unique, but not mutated

a close up of an isopod with antenne and a segmented body

New foot-long crustacean named after Darth Vader

By Laura Baisas

a blue lobster-looking animal called a crayfish. it has long claws, antennae, and a segmented body

New colorful species of crayfish discovered in aquarium shipment

By Laura Baisas

a small bird sits in a tree with its beak open wide

Why do birds make so many different sounds? 100,000 audio recordings offer clues.

By Laura Baisas

a green glow of bioluminescence from a mushroom

Artists find a green, glowing mushroom in a Swiss forest

By Laura Baisas

Three red ants interacting with one another

Even ants may hold grudges

a small brown fish swimming in a tank

These fish can mate 19 times per day

By Laura Baisas

a long whale shark with gray spots swims in the ocean

Whale shark pre-mating ritual observed for the first time

By Laura Baisas

a bird with white and black plummage and an egg on a nest and three other birds standing around her

Which animals reproduce at the oldest age?

By Laura Baisas

a woman nuzzles a dog

Meet the former musher investigating sled dog genetics

By Laura Baisas

a dark brown moray eel

New ‘Hades’ moray eel discovered by accident

By Laura Baisas

An adult female chimpanzee cracks an oil palm nut with a stone hammer and anvil while her infant son looks at the camera.

Some chimpanzees are great nutcrackers

By Laura Baisas

a svalbard reindeer with antlers standing on muddy terrain

Shorter, fatter, and hairier: 5 fun facts about the world’s smallest reindeer

By Laura Baisas

a strange fish with a blob on its head sits on a rock

27 new, exciting, and blobby species discovered in the Peruvian rainforest

By Laura Baisas

A Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus) photographed on Sombrero Island in June 2021. This species is endemic to the Carribbean island.

Population of nearly extinct lizard grows 16X in only six years

By Laura Baisas

An Andean bear at the nature reserve Bioparque Wakata, in Briceno municipality near Bogota, Colombia, on June 21, 2023.

Shy ‘Paddington’ bears need more plants to survive

By Laura Baisas

a squirrel sits eating a vole, pulling its meat with its teeth

‘Shocking:’ These squirrels are hunting and eating other rodents

By Laura Baisas

a turtle swims in a tank wearing a black weighted harness on its side

Sea turtle with ‘bubble butt syndrome’ gets a 3D-printed custom harness

By Laura Baisas

A reconstruction of the oldest known gorgonopsian in life.

This dog-like predator is the oldest known mammal ancestor

By Laura Baisas

a small blue-colored penguin called a little penguin swims in the ocean

Turtles and penguins have a swimming sweet spot that reduces drag

By Laura Baisas

Striated frogfish (Antennarius striatus), also known as the hairy frogfish.

Anglerfish use ‘extremely rare’ mechanism to control their lures

red brain neurons

Why is deep sleep so important to memory? It’s about time.

By Laura Baisas

A juvenile Nile crocodile. It is small with pointed teeth

Why are crocodiles so bumpy? A dermatological mystery has been solved

By Laura Baisas

a new shrimp-like crustacean. it is white with two protruding tusk-like appendages at its head, at least 8 legs, and two tail-like appendages at the back

New predator uncovered 25,000+ feet under the Pacific

By Laura Baisas

a microscopic zooplankton

Microscopic ‘eating and pooping machines’ are great at sucking up carbon

By Laura Baisas

Frozen surface of Lake Enigma

Life discovered lurking under Antarctica’s frozen Lake Enigma

Two views of a slingshot spider (Theridiosoma gemmosum) web. The right image shows the web’s cone shape with a spider at the tip.

Watch a slingshot spider deploy a perfectly-timed trap

By Laura Baisas

a siberian husky sits in the snow. it has piercing blue eyes and its ears are perked up

Humans gave dogs treats 12,000 years ago, new archeological evidence suggests

By Laura Baisas

The anglerfish species Lophius piscatorius.

Anglerfish are so much more than just their dangly bioluminescent lures

By Laura Baisas

brain scans in pink, blue, and yellow

Humans may have big brains thanks to our gut

By Laura Baisas

old photo of man with text

The man who lived with no brain

By Popular Science Team

an orca whale dorsal fin coming out of the water

Orcas observed preying on massive whale sharks

By Laura Baisas