Pygmy blue whale nursing her calf off the coast of Timor-Leste. (Image expanded to fit aspect ratio using generative tools)The first video of a blue whale nursing her calf has been released, alongside other remarkable footage of the species' intimate behaviors, captured in 2022 by a fortunate snorkeler. This marks the first occasion for...
Artist Gabriel Lio's depiction of Gaiasia jennyae, a massive amphibious predator from the Permian era.Long before dinosaurs dominated the Earth, another formidable predator thrived in its environment. Gaiasia, resembling a large salamander, roamed the Permian swamps. Unlike the cute axolotl, Gaiasia jennyae was a massive amphibian measuring approximately 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in length,...
Credit: FreepikThe study explores the complex interplay of handedness and visual biases in humans, drawing parallels with similar traits observed across the animal kingdom. While handedness is well-known as a defining characteristic, the study reveals lesser-known biases that impact social dynamics and cognitive functions.Human Biases and Brain LateralizationHumans exhibit a strong tendency towards right-handedness,...
Credit: PixabayTwo new hallucinogenic fungi species have been discovered and formally classified, adding to the approximately 140 known varieties of psychoactive gilled mushrooms.Researchers from Stellenbosch University, along with citizen mycologists, used phylogenetic and morphological analysis to confirm that the two mushrooms, Psilocybe ingeli and Psilocybe maluti, are novel species. These were found in southern...
Credit: BETH ZAIKENFour thousand years ago, the last woolly mammoth on an island off the coast of modern-day Siberia died. This isolation could have led to fatal inbreeding and population declines, contributing to the species' extinction.However, a new study reveals that while the Wrangel Island mammoths were indeed inbred, this alone did not...
As we age, the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes called telomeres get shorter and shorterDepositphotosIn pre-clinical studies, a small molecule successfully stimulated neuron regeneration, decreased inflammation, and enhanced memory, speed, coordination, grip strength, and other factors. These findings hold significant promise for aging and associated diseases.Researchers at the University of Texas...
Lokiceratops rangiformis is a distant cousin of the TriceratopsFabrizio Lavezza/The Museum of Evolution, Knuthenborg CC BY-NC-NDThe Natural History Museum of Utah has unveiled a previously undiscovered species of horned, herbivorous dinosaur, an ancestor of the Triceratops. Its distinctive and impressive headgear has led to it being named after a deity.Paleontologists discovered fragments of the dinosaur's...
Credit: PixabayRecent research reveals that goldenrod plants exhibit a form of intelligence by adjusting their responses to herbivores based on neighboring plants and environmental cues, challenging conventional notions of intelligence.Goldenrod can sense the presence of nearby plants without physical contact, using cues like far-red light ratios reflected from leaves. When grazed upon by herbivores,...
Researchers have found that a father's diet before conception greatly affects his children's health. The artwork shows an allegorical fertilization scene where a fat sperm (colored yellow to symbolize fat) meets the egg (represented as the moon in a starry sky) and lights it up by passing on diet-induced genetic information.Recent research has highlighted...
A small fern, found only on a few Pacific islands, contains over 100 meters of DNA in each cell, more than any known organism. "The fern, known as Tmesipteris oblanceolata, has round structures that produce spores", says Oriane Hidalgo.A printed version of the entire human genome would fill 220 large books. However, printing the...
