New Study Reveals Microplastics and War Among Emerging Threats to Bees

Western honey bee

A new report released on World Bee Day identifies twelve emerging threats that could accelerate pollinator losses over the next decade, with microplastics, conflict-driven crop simplification, and poorly planned climate actions topping the list. The findings from Bee:wild, a science-led global campaign, highlight how these novel dangers could compound well-established threats like habitat loss and … Read more

Mice Detect Social Status Through Scent

Diagram showing how a mouse assesses an unfamiliar mouse's rank using two chemosensory systems in the brain, the olfactory and vomeronasal systems.

In the complex social world of mice, a newcomer can instantly size up a stranger’s social rank without ever having met them before. A new study from the Francis Crick Institute shows these rodents rely on their keen sense of smell to make quick social judgments – using chemical cues to decide whether to stand … Read more

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Capuchins Start Bizarre Trend of Abducting Baby Howlers

A young male white-faced capuchin monkey carrying a baby howler monkey, caught by a remote camera trap on Jicarón.

On an island off Panama’s coast, scientists have documented a peculiar new behavior among white-faced capuchin monkeys that began with one curious individual and spread into a concerning cultural phenomenon. Using motion-triggered cameras, researchers captured young male capuchins abducting and carrying baby howler monkeys for days at a time—with no apparent benefit to themselves but … Read more

Animals Follow a Hidden Algorithm, Whether They’re Meerkats or Hyenas

hyena

From the scorpion-hunting meerkats of the Kalahari to Kenya’s powerful hyenas, mammals with vastly different lifestyles appear to follow remarkably similar behavioral patterns, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The surprising findings suggest an underlying architecture that may organize how animals sequence their daily activities, regardless … Read more

Ancient Sea-Moth Predator Rewrites Arthropod Evolution

Mosura fentoni, a 506-million-year-old creature from the famous Burgess Shale fossil beds

A finger-sized marine predator with three eyes and an unusual respiratory system is challenging what scientists thought they knew about the early evolution of arthropods, the group that includes modern insects, crustaceans, and spiders. Canadian researchers have discovered Mosura fentoni, a 506-million-year-old creature from the famous Burgess Shale fossil beds, with an unprecedented body arrangement … Read more

Chimps Treat Each Other’s Wounds with Medicinal Plants

grooming chimps

Researchers studying chimpanzees in Uganda have documented something remarkable — these apes don’t just treat their own injuries with medicinal plants, but also provide healthcare to injured community members. This discovery, published Wednesday in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, suggests that prosocial healthcare in our closest relatives may be more widespread than previously recognized, potentially … Read more

Orangutan Moms Show Distinct Parenting Styles

A Sumatran orangutan mother-infant pair at Suaq. Mother, Cissy, is seen carrying her infant, Cinnamon.

Not all orangutan mothers parent alike, according to pioneering research that tracked wild Sumatran orangutans for 15 years. The study, published Tuesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, documents for the first time how individual orangutan mothers consistently differ in their parenting approaches—even with different offspring. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal … Read more

Living Things Glow Faintly with Invisible Light—And Death Makes It Vanish

Imaging Ultraweak Photon Emission from Living and Dead Mice and from Plants under Stress

Cutting-edge imaging technology has uncovered that all living organisms emit an extremely faint light invisible to the naked eye, with patterns that significantly differ between life and death. These ultraweak photon emissions (UPE) offer researchers a promising tool for non-invasive monitoring of biological processes and stress responses in both animals and plants. What Are Ultraweak … Read more

Wild Science

Nature’s Secrets, Scientifically Told.

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