BIOLOGY

9 Fascinating Facts About Urine

You might think that urine is just bodily waste—but you would be wrong. It's been used in cleansers, medicine, and infertility treatments for centuries.

A fox near the Chernobyl power plant in 2017.

Chernobyl May Not Be Habitable for Humans for Another 24,000 Years, But Wildlife Is Thriving

Rare animal species in Chernobyl, from lynxes to wild horses, seem to be weathering all that radiation relatively well.

Louder Than Traffic: Listen to the Deafening Sounds of a Cicada Chorus

When the Brood X cicadas emerge in late spring 2021, their mating calls will rival the volume of lawn mowers, car stereos, and low-flying planes.

Octopuses never have to say a farewell to arms for long.

On a Limb: How an Octopus Regrows Its Arms

The cephalopod is strikingly intelligent, but its most spectacular talent may be its ability to fully regrow arms lost to predators.

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Recycle Your Giant CVS Receipts

You can blame that glossy finish, which comes from a mysterious, potentially harmful chemical called BPA.

J. Martin and E. Olson, Northland College; from Olson et al. 2021, Scientific Reports

11 Animals You Wouldn't Expect to Glow

Sometimes the trick goes unnoticed. But at least we can use blacklights to recognize the biofluorescent beasts who lay hidden in our midst.

Why Does Our Hair Grow Darker as We Get Older?

You can chalk it up to hormone changes, but your genes aren’t so innocent when it comes to hair color.

Science is closer to understanding what prompts severe COVID-19 illness.

Scientists Come Closer to Understanding COVID-19 'Cytokine Storms'

The "cytokine storms" that precede severe illness in patients with COVID-19 has been poorly understood. New research has traced the risk of lung damage and organ failure to two key proteins that have the potential to be treated with drugs.

There's a good chance his parents have dimples, too.

Why Do Some People Have Dimples?

Genetics probably play a part in dimple formation, and so does a muscle called the “zygomaticus major.”

Jgritz~commonswiki, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.5

Tasmanian Devils Have Been Reintroduced to Australia’s Mainland After 3000 Years

Their population has dwindled by 90 percent in recent decades, but Tasmanian devils are starting to make a comeback in mainland Australia.

62-Year-Old Ball Python at St. Louis Zoo Lays Eggs After Decades of Isolation

A 62-year-old female python at the St. Louis Zoo hasn't been in contact with a male in decades, but she was somehow able to reproduce this summer.

These hikers's gut microbes are running the show.

Craving Nature? Your Gut Microbiome Might Be Responsible

Your gut microbes might be yearning for their outdoor counterparts—and telling your brain to go find them.

Sperm have been duping us for nearly 350 years.

A Stroke of Genius: New Research Shows That Sperm Don’t Slither—They Corkscrew

This new revelation about how sperm propel themselves to eggs could inform future studies on male infertility.

Ray Scott, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY SA 3.0

Beavers on Devon's River Otter to Become England's First Permanent Population in Centuries

A five-year trial has proven the beaver families on England's Otter River are not harmful to the local ecosystem—they actually benefit it.

Cheap tests may be the key to fighting coronavirus.

Why Researchers Believe a 'Crappy' Coronavirus Test Can Help Fight the Pandemic

Tests that offer low sensitivity and more false negatives are still valuable in the fight against coronavirus. But will the FDA agree?

Work blanket? Check. Hot tea? Check. Writing gloves? Check.

Winter is Coming: Why Some People Seem to Feel Colder Than Others

If you own a work sweater and have a space heater under your desk, your individual perception of cold might differ from that of your co-workers.

Not the actual northern curly-tailed lizard with the epic poop.

What a Lizard Poop of Epic Proportions Is Teaching Scientists

Explore a 3D-model of a lizard's record-setting poop, formed by its taste for pizza grease, that will haunt the halls of eternity.

This woman might be controlling her goosebumps with her mind.

Some People Can Control When They Get Goosebumps—and Scientists Are Stumped

The way the human nervous system works, people should not be able to choose when they get goosebumps. But people with Voluntary Generated Piloerection can.

An alpine newt glows green after being exposed to blue light.

It’s Easy Being Green: Most Amphibians Are Biofluorescent, Study Finds

After being bathed in blue light, salamanders, frogs, and other amphibians glowed a brilliant green. There's more to these critters than meets the eye.

Fat Bats Might Be Resistant to Deadly White-Nose Syndrome

Good news: chubby little brown bats might be genetically resistant to white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that’s killed more than 5.5 million bats since it was first documented in 2006.

Human Body Temperatures Are Dropping, and Science Might Know Why

The 98.6°F human body temperature may no longer be the standard. Scientists point to a marked decrease in inflammation.

10 New Bird Species and Subspecies Discovered on Indonesian Islands

The discovery of 10 bird species and subspecies on three remote islands in Indonesia marks the first time in over a century that so many new birds have been found in such a small area.

Scientists Put 3D Glasses on Cuttlefish and Find Out They Use Human-Like Depth Perception to Hunt Prey

3D movies of shrimp were involved, too—all in the name of seeing if cuttlefish use stereopsis like we do.

The National Zoo Is Hoping to Spark a Love Connection Between Two Sloths

Athena, a 1.5-year-old two-toed sloth, may help the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., launch a successful sloth breeding program.

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