Earth & Climate

Amazing Elephant Seal Sleep Revealed

Spiral course in deep slumber. © Graphic by Jessica Kendall-Bar Extreme relaxation: elephant seals only sleep a record-breaking two hours a day during their months...

Bumblebees can learn culturally

Bumblebees can learn from each other. © Diego Perez-Lopez/ PLOS, CC by 4.0 Is culture only reserved for creatures with big brains? One study suggests...

Open landscapes shaped hominoid evolution

Reconstruction of the landscape in East Africa around 21 million years ago. © Corbin Rainbolt The African savannahs are probably much older than previously assumed:...

Barriers against the plastic flood

Plastic waste in the oceans endangers countless living beings. Rivers are often the source - although not so much the big streams, but according...

Raised gene reading speed problematic

Artist's rendering of the transcription. © selvanegra/iStock According to a study, a "sloppy" reading of genes apparently contributes to aging: With increasing age, genetic information...

Scaffolding molecule pulls glyphosate out of the water

Glyphosate could be removed from water using a metal-organic framework. © Shaghayegh Naghdi The herbicide glyphosate is widely used around the world, but is highly...

What arctic ocean sediment reveals about the future

Arctic sea ice is disappearing. © anahtiris/ iStock Climate change is causing Arctic sea ice to recede. A look into the past now shows the...

Photo worth seeing: Micro ferries for timely drug dosing

Taking medication at the right time and the right dose is important. However, many do not succeed in taking the prescribed medication at the...

Smart patch “smells” plant problems

Sensors on the leaf patch record volatile organic compounds as well as temperature and humidity data. © Qingshan Wei, NC State University ...

Banana expert with trunk

Usually, elephants just put whole bananas in their mouths. But in the Berlin Zoo, one specimen has developed an astonishingly complex way of dealing...

Woolly mammoth: on the trail of gene secrets

The sequence data from 23 woolly mammoths were included in the study. © Ian Watts Researchers have compared the genomes of woolly mammoths from different...

Good news: Slight increase in the field hare

Hare in a meadow. © Andyworks/ iStock Easter is just around the corner and at least the children are hoping that the Easter Bunny will...

Warm group nests reflected in eggshells

Artist's impression of two Troodons sharing a nest. © Alex Boersma Targeting a dinosaur related to modern-day birds, the tiny predator Troodon was warm-blooded and...

Photo worth seeing: Veiled Birth of a Giant

Galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in the cosmos. The formations, consisting of galaxies, gas clouds and dark matter, can encompass several thousand...

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