Biology

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

Latest in Biology

An atmospheric photograph shows a silhouette of a person interacting with a dramatic play of light and shadow. The person’s face and hands are partially illuminated by a bright, warm light source that cuts through a hazy, purple-tinted atmosphere filled with smoke or mist. The composition is abstract and moody, emphasizing the sensory and ethereal nature of light and color.

Color doesn’t exist—at least not how you think

By Jennifer Byrne

Close up of speartooth shark

Shark lasers could help save vulnerable species

two eaglet chicks in a nest

How to tell Jackie and Shadow’s chicks, Sandy and Luna, apart

By Laura Baisas

a grizzly bear in the woods

CAUTION: That dead elk in Yellowstone could be grizzly bear bait

By Margherita Bassi

two eaglets on a nest

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets’ names announced: Say hello to Sandy and Luna

By Laura Baisas

A brain implant to treat depression gets FDA greenlight to start trials

By Mack DeGeurin

small kitten sitting on a golden retriever's head.

Why some cats love dogs—despite the risk

By Clarissa Brincat

a brown bear eating a piece of salmon in a river

Fat Bear Week champion Chunk spotted taking a stroll in Alaska

By Laura Baisas

a chicken with brown and white stripes and large orange sacks on the sides of its head

A rare prairie chicken shakes his butt all day to attract ladies

By Laura Baisas

Rough thicktail scorpion (Parabuthus raudus). Paratuthus scorpions' venom is quick-acting, so they do not need to rely as much on their pincers to capture prey.

Metal-reinforced scorpions evolved to kill

a yellow glider in the ocean

The ‘Waymo of the sea’ tracks sperm whale conversations

By Laura Baisas

sea lion on pier

How to watch Chonkers, the 2,000-pound sea lion live from San Francisco

By Laura Baisas

Close up photo of white woman wearing jean overalls showing a scar on her upper left chest several inches long.

Why scars never disappear

By RJ Mackenzie

an illustration of a woolly mammoth with brown fur and two large tusks and a trunk walking around a snow landscape

We’re still recovering from losing the woolly mammoth

By Laura Baisas

an eagle feeding two chicks

Jackie and Shadow’s chicks getting new feathers

By Laura Baisas

Black and white photo of person standing in sheet ghost costume in backyard

That ghostly presence may just be bad plumbing

a parrot with blue and yellow feathers and an open mouth

Parrots use names to talk to each other

By Margherita Bassi

two sea otters in the ocean with one with its paw up

Why playing is no laughing matter for otters

By Heide Island

a sea turtle on a vet's table

Meet Earl Grey, the sea turtle with a wild family tree

By Margherita Bassi

Honeybee on a woman's fingertip

Honeybees understand basic math