Biology

Primeval shore leave with friends

Even the pioneers of plant-based shore leave could have entered into a symbiosis with mushrooms. (Illustration: Aurélie Le Ru / Mélanie Rich /...

How many birds are there in the world?

Australian pigeons. (Image: Corey T. Callaghan) Birds are omnipresent and their twittering accompanies us even in the big city. But how many of...

Land use changes greater than expected

HILDA + land use map for 2019 (Image: Karina Winkler / KIT People leave their “footprint” on the earth's land through agriculture, clearing forests or...

Honey bees prefer rapeseed to apple blossoms

Honey bee on a rape blossom. (Image: Albin Andersson) Oilseed rape blooms at the same time as apple trees and, like them, is mainly...

Lizards with diving equipment

A blister on their nose allows them to breathe underwater: some American anole lizards use an amazing concept for diving, report biologists. A...

Glyphosate harms insects indirectly

Researchers have shown possible damage to symbiosis systems in insects through studies on flat grain beetles. (Photo: Backiris / iStock) The focus is mostly...

Magnetic sense in the bat’s eye

Rough-skin bats probably orient themselves on their long-distance journeys using a magnetic sense located in the corneas of their eyes. (Image: Oliver Lindecke...

Which insects pollinate cocoa plants?

A tiny parasitic wasp visits a cocoa blossom. (Image: Manuel Toledo) Without pollinator insects, many of our crops cannot reproduce and bear fruit. ...

Coated paper instead of plastic packaging

Paper packaging with the coating on the inside. (Image: Fraunhofer) Environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic packaging have been sought for a long time. ...

Young sea turtles on the trail

Green sea turtle between Sargassum algae. (Image: Gustavo Stahelin) How do young sea turtles behave during their early days in the open sea? ...

“Risen” date palms sequenced

Left the “risen” date palm “Methuselah” and right the later “awakened” palm “Adam”. (Images: Sarah Sallon) What are the characteristics of the so-called Judean...

Celebrity bow tie shines with flight performance

The flying abilities of the "flies of research" were apparently underestimated. (rob_lan / iStock) They do not look particularly "sporty" when they lazily circling...

Another step to save the species

The female Fatu is one of only two surviving specimens of the northern white rhinoceros. (Image: BioRescue / Rio the Photographer) Today only two...

Alien-like “dating app” discovered

It lives up to its name once again: in the bizarre "alien" mantis from the Peruvian rainforest, biologists have discovered an organ previously unknown...

Forgotten type of coffee could defy climate change

So far, Arabica coffee has dominated the market, but climate change is causing it problems. (Image: amenic181 / iStock) When it comes to top-quality...

Bugs are supposed to pee themselves to death

Beetles cause enormous damage in agriculture and in stockpiling. (Image: Red-brown rice flour beetle, Credit: Tomasz Klejdysz / iStock) A bizarre, but poison-free control...

A lot of conquest potential in Europe

Invasive species in Europe: raccoon (left) and raccoon dog (right). (Images: left: win247 / iStock, right: Dorian Dörge) In many places the problematic exotic...

Only three percent of the land area is untouched

View of the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil. (Image: FG Trade / iStock) Real wilderness has become rare on our planet. How many unspoiled...

Microplastics: mussels react robustly

Young mussel while trying. (Photo: Thea Hamm) Microplastics have long been ubiquitous in the ocean. But at least mussels seem to be coping...

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