Biology

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...

Bees: Bacterial membership card

Guardians check incoming bees at the entrance of a beehive. (Image: Nathan Beach) Access for stick members only! How do guardian bees...

Bloodsuckers: on the trail of taste

Only after a female mosquito has sensed the taste of blood does she suck herself full. (Image: Alex Wild, used by permission) Delicious...

On the trail of intersexuality in moles

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the Iberian mole and uncovered the basis of the masculinization of females. (Photo: David Carmona, University of...

Bioinvasion: forecast to increase by almost 40 percent

Gray squirrels are an invasive species. (Image: Tim Blackburn) Due to global trade, plant and animal species are getting more and more easily into...

How does the variety of shapes in cells come about?

Flagella, long fibers, bizarre appendages ... Researchers have gained useful insights into how cells can create so many different membrane structures. You can find more...

Early experiences of hunger increase the willingness to take risks

Blacktip reef shark in the middle of a school of fish. (Image: Oliver Krüger) Hunger makes you reckless: if animals grow up under difficult...

As the Venus flytrap remembers

If a sensory hair is touched in the trap, an effect indicates the release of calcium ions. If a second stimulus is added,...

Risk of hunger from earlier breeding

A young pond swallow is begging for food. (Image: SteveByland / iStock) Dangerous adaptation to global warming: If insectivorous birds breed earlier, they risk...

Chants signal a departure

The results of studies suggest that the sounds of blue whales could play a role in coordinating migration behavior. (Image: Daniel Conde /...

Fungal virus turns enemy into friend

A harmful fungus reduces the yields of the rapeseed fields. (Image: kritsada171 / iStock) Fungi can also catch viruses, and this can have amazing...

The value of natural capital at a glance

To what extent can values ​​be assigned to the services of nature? The environmental economist Bernd Hansjürgens from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental...

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