A single tooth sits under a microscope in a clean room in Beijing. It is 400,000 years old. The researchers working with it are not allowed to drill into it, grind it down, or section it for analysis. They know that if they damage the morphology, they will have destroyed something irreplaceable. So instead, they … Read more
A bat hanging from a cave ceiling is doing something that looks effortless but is, mechanically speaking, genuinely strange. It isn’t gripping. Not actively, anyway. When a bat lands inverted, its body weight pulls down on tendons running through the legs, and those tendons tighten the toes around whatever surface the animal has landed on. … Read more
The Battambang bat caves draw tourists from around the world. Each evening, thousands of bats pour from the limestone cliffs in swirling clouds, a spectacle that fills the Cambodian sky. What visitors don’t see is the invisible cargo these flying mammals carry, a sprawling viral universe that researchers are only beginning to map. Between 2020 … Read more
In a cluttered research lab in eastern China, a new kind of garbage disposal sits humming quietly. It doesn’t grind or incinerate. Instead, it farms millions of writhing black soldier fly larvae that consume rural food waste and transform themselves into high-protein animal feed. The contraption might sound like something from a science fiction novel, … Read more
Chinese researchers have achieved complete conversion of carbon dioxide into methane using an inexpensive catalyst in hot water—a process that mimics natural geological phenomena. The team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University developed a honeycomb-structured catalyst made from common metals that transforms 100% of CO2 into methane, a valuable fuel that can be stored and transported … Read more
Poetry from China’s imperial dynasties has unveiled the stark reality of habitat loss for the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, according to new research published Monday in Current Biology. Scientists analyzed 724 ancient poems mentioning the iconic “smiling” porpoise, documenting a 65% range contraction over the past 1,400 years – with most of this decline … Read more
Scientists have discovered a remarkably effective method for teaching cockroaches to navigate mazes, potentially transforming these common insects into valuable search-and-rescue agents for disaster zones. Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology revealed that gentle electrical stimulation applied to a cockroach’s cerci—sensory organs on their rear end—not only steers their movement but also helps form strong … Read more
Scientists have discovered that mice naturally help their unconscious companions without any training or rewards, challenging long-held assumptions about animal altruism and revealing surprising parallels between rodent and human social behavior. When placed near an anesthetized mouse, observer mice show clear signs of distress and quickly begin grooming and licking their unconscious companions. This behavior … Read more