Scientists have published the first record of a Noble False Widow spider feeding on a protected species of Pipistrelle bats in the UK. The new study demonstrates that False Widow spiders continue to impact native species. The new study, published today in the international journal Ecosphere,demonstrates that False Widow spiders continue to impact native species.…

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown breeding site used by the world’s rarest seal species. The Mediterranean monk seal is classified as «endangered,» with a total population of about 700. The new study — by the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT) — used camera-traps to confirm breeding in…

Historic records from weather stations show that rainfall patterns in Scotland were affected by charge in the atmosphere released by radiation from nuclear bomb tests carried out in the 1950s and ’60s. Scientists at the University of Reading have researched how the electric charge released by radiation from the test detonations, carried out predominantly by…

A new study of blue whales off the coast of California has given researchers the first ocean recordings of their famous hitchhiking partner — the remora — revealing the suckerfish’s secret whale-surfing skills as well as their knack for grabbing the most flow-optimal spots while riding aboard the world’s largest vertebrate. In a study published…

Researchers have discovered that biofilms, bacterial communities found throughout the living world, are far more advanced than previously believed. Scientists found that biofilm cells are organized in elaborate patterns, a feature that previously only had been associated with higher-level organisms such as plants and animals. Biofilms are prevalent in the living world, inhabiting sewer pipes,…

There are spiders that eat snakes. Observations of snake-eating spiders have been reported around the world. Researchers consolidated and analyzed over 300 reports of this unusual predation strategy. Spiders are primarily insectivores, but they occasionally expand their menu by catching and eating small snakes. Dr. Martin Nyffeler, arachnologist at the University of Basel, and American…

Rats exchange information about danger in a reciprocal fashion, and this information transfer is at least partially mediated by a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex. The ability to anticipate threats and deploy defensive responses appropriately is key to survival. Rodents have evolved mechanisms to use the response of conspecifics to more selectively deploy…

In effect, the bison graze with such intensity that they turn back the clock on forage green-up, hitting reset on springtime. In fact, with every blade of grass that bison bite off and swallow, they are fundamentally manipulating the landscape to maintain the best forage for themselves. They even change the way spring green-up occurs…

While water blasting at a wall of frozen mud in Yukon, Canada, a gold miner made an extraordinary discovery: a perfectly preserved wolf pup that had been locked in permafrost for 57,000 years. The remarkable condition of the pup, named Zhur by the local Tr’ondek Hwech’in people, gave researchers a wealth of insights about her…

The blood groups of three Neanderthals one Denisovan have been determined by a team including a palaeoanthropologist, population geneticists, and haematologists. Their research provides new data for understanding the origins, history, and health of these extinct hominin lineages. The extinct hominin lineages of the Neanderthals and Denisovans were present throughout Eurasia from 300,000 to 40,000…