Biology

Cockatoos: hobbyists with imagination

Sharp intellect in feathered heads - the Goffin's cockatoos have once again demonstrated their amazing intelligence: The birds can recreate objects from memory based...

Hemp – a water-saving alternative to cotton?

Hemp plants in drought. (Image: Flemming / ATB) Hemp plants could make textiles of the future more environmentally friendly. Because the fiber plants...

Mushroom-plant friendship sweetens tomatoes

Tomato plants that live in symbiosis with mushrooms require less fertilizer and produce better fruit. (Photo: Bettina home, IPB) An exchange with friends is...

View of tree death in Germany

Open crowns and dead trees: Max Planck researchers use drones to study the condition of forests and investigate how they could change in the...

Ants swallow their acid as “medicine”

An ant takes a portion of acid from its abdomen. (Image: Simon Tragust) Anyone who annoys ants is known to get burning acid from...

Ghost nets in sight

Lost or discarded nets are the most dangerous type of plastic waste for marine animals. (Image: richcarey / iStock) Plastic pollution of the fateful...

How does the biggest heart in the world beat?

The researchers measured the heartbeat of this blue whale in Monterey Bay. (Image: Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab) Blue whales are the...

Which hydropower plants are particularly dangerous for fish?

The risk to fish varies depending on the hydropower plant. (Image: Angelina Tittmann) Not every hydropower plant is equally dangerous for fish, as a...

Like octopuses with the tentacles taste

An octopus examines a cup. (Image: Lena van Giesen) With the sensory cells in their suction cups, octopuses can perceive not only mechanical, but...

Social distancing among “vampires”

Passive social distancing apparently inhibits the spread of disease in vampire bats. (Image: Sherri and Brock Fenton / Behavioral Ecology) In the corona pandemic,...

How generous are corvids?

Ravens are considered to be rather selfish. (Photo: Lisa Horn) Donated corvids: The social life of birds in the Corvidae family determines their generosity,...

Dead Baltic porpoises after a mine was blown

When mine blasts, harbor porpoises are exposed to a high risk of injury from sound and pressure waves. (Image: BrendanHunter) Acoustic trauma with fatal...

German environmental award

Award winners 2020: Martin Sorg, Annika and Hugo Sebastian Trappmann and Ottmar Edenhofer (front row) (Image: Peter Himsel / DBU) The German Environmental Prize was...

School research with fish robots

Technical replicas of fish make it clear how they save energy by swimming in a school. (Image: Dr. Liang Li, Max Planck Institute...

Friendship also matures in monkeys with age

Similar to older people, more mature chimpanzees seem to prefer smaller, but higher quality, groups of friends. (Image: Ronan Donovan) In youth, parties with...

Red algae form the glue of coral reefs

Coral reef (Image: mychadre77 / iStock) Coral reefs often lie like a protective bulwark off the coast and defy even severe storms. Scientists have...

Monkeys understand grammar too

Chimpanzees also understand simple grammatical rules. (Image: University of Warwick) A grammatically sophisticated language is considered unique to humans. The basis for this...

Migrating bats save on their immune defense

Rough-skin bat in flight. (Image: C. Giese) Bats are known to be particularly immune to aggressive viruses. But that costs energy. Studies...

Ivory Coast soon without elephants?

Forest elephants in Ivory Coast, (Image: Sery Gonedelé Bi) The region was once considered the kingdom of the forest elephants - the large populations of...

Baltic Sea: No offspring for cod and herring

Cod hardly have any offspring in the western Baltic Sea. (Image: I. Oelrichs) Scientists and fishermen are sounding the alarm: In the western Baltic...

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