Biology

Natural patents for innovative coatings

A super-white beetle and water-repellent floating plants: German bionics copy micro-structured surfaces from nature in order to make them technically usable Source: KIT Karlsruhe Institute...

Invasive seeds in bird feed

Bird feeding with titballs (Image: tioloco / iStock) Whether sunflower seeds, titballs or millet: Especially in winter and spring, bird feed should help our garden...

Climate change: saving epigenetics?

Three-spined sticklebacks must be able to adjust to different salt levels in the Baltic Sea. (Image: Melanie Heckwolf / GEOMAR) Climate change is rapidly changing ecosystems...

Water in times of climate change

Water: a vital resource for people, animals and plants (Image: Yevgeniy Sambulov / istock) For this year's World Water Day on March 22nd, the United...

How horses and bisons protect permafrost

Wild horses in the Russian permafrost area. (Image: Pleistocene Park) Wild horses, bison and reindeer could help slow the thawing of Arctic permafrost, a study...

Sexual selection created the “unicorn of the seas”

Mysterious inhabitants of the Arctic Ocean: narwhals. (Image: dottedhippo / iStock) A coiled horn, up to three meters long - what is this bizarre hallmark...

DNA fishing reveals wildlife

This red deer leaves DNA traces in the river water, which indicate its presence in the ecosystem. (Photo: UMass Amherst / Joseph Drake) They are...

Territorial thinking in gorillas

Through camera traps, researchers have gained insights into the life of the lowland gorillas. (Image: SPAC Scientific Field Station Network, Ggmb.) This area belongs to...

Baboon mothers also take care of dead children

Bear baboon mother with her dead cub. (Image: Alecia Carter / UCL) How do animals react to the death of a conspecific or even their...

European bison forest

The gateway to Bialowieza National Park (Photo: Shutterstock / Damian Pankowiec) To understand the history of Białowieża, you have to go far. There was a...

Air pollution: an underestimated risk?

A video by the Max Planck Society illustrates how severely air pollution from fine dust threatens the health and life expectancy of people worldwide. Source:...

Eye-catching appearance due to ship noise

A young beach crab on a fingernail. (Image: Martin Stevens) Even the crabs in the water get too loud: Frequent ship noise affects their ability...

Sea plastic develops a fatal scent

Sea turtles sniff for food nearby. (Image: Ivanica Monica / iStock) Death from a belly full of garbage - why do sea turtles swallow so...

City foxes are different

A fox in the city. (Image: Dgwildlife / iStock) Red foxes have long adapted to life in our big cities. Compared to their rural counterparts,...

The Spix’s Macaw returns

A group of young Spix's Macaw parrots in the breeding station. (Image: ACTP e.V.) The Spix's Macaws (Cyanopsitta spixii) are now extinct in the wild....

»Agriculture is always an intervention«

A honeybee pollinating a rape plant. They and their wild relatives are threatened by the use of pesticides. (Photo: Bayer AG) Neonicotinoids are suspected to...

Keas understand probabilities

A kea gives a researcher a trade item. (Image: Amalia Bastos) Which decision has more chance of success? If we do not know something for...

Stink secret of the durian fruit revealed

If you don't let the stench deter you, you can enjoy a delicacy. (Image: trumzz / iStock) Many people know her from a vacation in...

Billions in losses from illegal fishing

Legally caught or not? (Image: Giang Nguyen / istock) Illegal fishing is one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems. Because the unauthorized and unregulated...

Amphibians: hidden glow revealed

A mountain newt in daylight (top) and fluorescent in blue light (bottom). (Image: Scientific Reports, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-020-59528-9, license: CC-by-sa 4.0 ) Some...

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