Biology (Page 7)

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

Latest in Biology

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

a person wearing gloves holds a large gelatinous greenish blob

‘Cursed gummybear’ spotted in Lake Huron

By Laura Baisas

Close up of ear of corn in corn crop field

Corn gets gassy when it feels too crowded

a lake trout looking up from the water

Meet Mary Catherine, the Great Lakes’ oldest-known trout

By Laura Baisas

Interior of small airplane bathroom

Airplane toilet water may help combat the next pandemic

a rattlesnake with brown and white scales is coiled on the ground of a forest

Michigan’s only rattlesnake is inbreeding

By Laura Baisas

Close up of dental exam on woman's teeth

Want a better toothpaste? Just add wool

a bird with long wings and white and black plumage gliding over the oceanCREDIT: Yusuke Goto

These seabirds poop on the fly (literally)

By Lauren Leffer

two small brown rodents called prairie voles

Love hormone could be key to friendship

By Margherita Bassi

three ants working together

Ants are better at teamwork than humans

By Margherita Bassi

Asian small-clawed otter swimming in water

Splash the otter is training for underwater search-and-rescue

Six stone tool artifacts

Stone Age humans traveled for miles to find the perfect rocks

A nestling bald eagle in Arizona.

Bald eagles stun scientists with bizarre migration pattern

By Margherita Bassi

a river otter with brown fur sits in water with a waterfall behind it

Otter poop reveals they may be ecosystem engineers

By Laura Baisas

a a small bird with brown and white feather and a long skinny beak sits on a tree

Scientists find male bird that laid an egg

By Laura Baisas

a dolphin rides on the bow wave in front of a humpback whale

Dolphin follows a whale all the way to the seafloor

By Laura Baisas

a long, cylindrical blue-green mollusck sits on a rock under the ocean

Unsuspecting sea creature has Earth’s hardest teeth

By Margherita Bassi

a close up of a groundhog on the grass

Three orphaned groundhogs released back into the wild

By Margherita Bassi

Norselaspis illustration

A googly-eyed fish could upend evolutionary history