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The latest stories in science, brought to you by the @ScienceMagazine news team.

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In November 2017, an ecologist was in the middle of a research expedition in central Amazonia when he spotted something strange: a black-chinned antbird resting on a branch with an erebid moth on the back of its neck. The moth was probing one of the bird's eyes with its proboscis and appeared to be drinking from it. About 45 minutes later, they came across a different moth drinking from the eye of another resting antbird. Butterflies and bees also drink the eye secretions of other animals—butterflies are partial to basking crocodiles, whereas bees like turtle tears. But fast-moving birds are unlikely hosts for these insects. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

In November 2017, an ecologist was in the middle of a research expedition in central Amazonia when he spotted something strange: a black-chinned antbird resting on a branch with an erebid moth on the back of its neck. The moth was probing one of the bird's eyes with its proboscis and appeared to be drinking from it. About 45 minutes later, they came across a different moth drinking from the eye of another resting antbird. Butterflies and bees also drink the eye secretions of other animals—butterflies are partial to basking crocodiles, whereas bees like turtle tears. But fast-moving birds are unlikely hosts for these insects. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

1,271,978 views

These blood-sucking arachnids can’t leap, but it turns out they can fly. Their secret? Static electricity. #ScienceMagArchives

These blood-sucking arachnids can’t leap, but it turns out they can fly. Their secret? Static electricity. #ScienceMagArchives

24,808 views

Hammer a nail into a tree, and it will get stuck. So why doesn't the same thing happen to the sharp beaks of woodpeckers? Scientists may finally have the answer. In a 2021 study, researchers took high-speed videos of two black woodpeckers pecking away at hardwood trunks in zoos and analyzed them frame by frame to see how the head and beak moved throughout each peck. The bird's secret: an ability to move its upper and lower beaks independently, the team reports. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

Hammer a nail into a tree, and it will get stuck. So why doesn't the same thing happen to the sharp beaks of woodpeckers? Scientists may finally have the answer. In a 2021 study, researchers took high-speed videos of two black woodpeckers pecking away at hardwood trunks in zoos and analyzed them frame by frame to see how the head and beak moved throughout each peck. The bird's secret: an ability to move its upper and lower beaks independently, the team reports. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

73,720 views

Babies don’t babble to sound cute—they’re taking their first steps on the path to learning language. A 2022 study shows parrot chicks do the same. Although the behavior has been seen in songbirds and two mammalian species, finding it in these birds is important, experts say, as they may provide the best nonhuman model for studying how we begin to learn language. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

Babies don’t babble to sound cute—they’re taking their first steps on the path to learning language. A 2022 study shows parrot chicks do the same. Although the behavior has been seen in songbirds and two mammalian species, finding it in these birds is important, experts say, as they may provide the best nonhuman model for studying how we begin to learn language. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

13,092 views

Hiding out-of-sight on our produce, pipes, and even teeth are tiny bacterial cells enmeshed within a sticky web. These microbial clusters—known as biofilms—are more resistant to antibiotics and other weapons. Researchers have discovered another surprising way they survive: ejecting some of their cells as if they were escape pods jettisoned from a doomed sci-fi spaceship, researchers report. Learn more:

Hiding out-of-sight on our produce, pipes, and even teeth are tiny bacterial cells enmeshed within a sticky web. These microbial clusters—known as biofilms—are more resistant to antibiotics and other weapons. Researchers have discovered another surprising way they survive: ejecting some of their cells as if they were escape pods jettisoned from a doomed sci-fi spaceship, researchers report. Learn more:

30,312 views

Hiding out-of-sight on our produce, pipes, and even teeth are tiny bacterial cells enmeshed within a sticky web. These microbial clusters—known as biofilms—are more resistant to antibiotics and other weapons. Researchers have discovered another surprising way they survive: ejecting some of their cells as if they were escape pods jettisoned from a doomed sci-fi spaceship, researchers report. Learn more:

Hiding out-of-sight on our produce, pipes, and even teeth are tiny bacterial cells enmeshed within a sticky web. These microbial clusters—known as biofilms—are more resistant to antibiotics and other weapons. Researchers have discovered another surprising way they survive: ejecting some of their cells as if they were escape pods jettisoned from a doomed sci-fi spaceship, researchers report. Learn more:

23,661 views

In a lab in central Pennsylvania, a tiny fly is suspended in a magnetic field inside a dome lined with rotating LED bulbs. The insect flaps its wings and spins, believing it’s actually buzzing through this virtual reality environment—one that can even distort what the fly sees. The contraption may seem like the work of mad scientists—and indeed, it wouldn’t be out of place among other recent setups that let fruit flies ride on a carousel or spun locusts in a centrifuge. But like those experiments, this tiny virtual reality flight simulator has a deeper purpose. Here, researchers are probing the inner workings of the insect brain. Learn more this #InsectWeek:

In a lab in central Pennsylvania, a tiny fly is suspended in a magnetic field inside a dome lined with rotating LED bulbs. The insect flaps its wings and spins, believing it’s actually buzzing through this virtual reality environment—one that can even distort what the fly sees. The contraption may seem like the work of mad scientists—and indeed, it wouldn’t be out of place among other recent setups that let fruit flies ride on a carousel or spun locusts in a centrifuge. But like those experiments, this tiny virtual reality flight simulator has a deeper purpose. Here, researchers are probing the inner workings of the insect brain. Learn more this #InsectWeek:

27,219 views

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This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like. By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape. If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared. Learn more:

This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like. By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape. If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared. Learn more:

News from Science

14,029,727 views • 2 months ago

About a decade ago, a baker in a small mountainous village in southern Austria noticed his cow doing something unusual. When Veronika had an itch, she would grab a stick in her mouth and use it to scratch her body. Over the years, the brown bovid’s technique improved. She could pick up objects as large as a broom or rake and move them around with her prehensile tongue, changing their length and orientation to ensure the best possible scratch. The behavior isn’t just a clever trick: It’s the first documented case of tool use in cattle, scientists report. And, it turns out, one of Veronika’s skills has only been seen in humans and chimpanzees. Learn more:

About a decade ago, a baker in a small mountainous village in southern Austria noticed his cow doing something unusual. When Veronika had an itch, she would grab a stick in her mouth and use it to scratch her body. Over the years, the brown bovid’s technique improved. She could pick up objects as large as a broom or rake and move them around with her prehensile tongue, changing their length and orientation to ensure the best possible scratch. The behavior isn’t just a clever trick: It’s the first documented case of tool use in cattle, scientists report. And, it turns out, one of Veronika’s skills has only been seen in humans and chimpanzees. Learn more:

News from Science

661,180 views • 3 months ago

Fungi coat the eggs of stinkbugs, creating a shield that protects the embryos from parasitic wasps, researchers reported last year. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

Fungi coat the eggs of stinkbugs, creating a shield that protects the embryos from parasitic wasps, researchers reported last year. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

News from Science

91,393 views • 19 days ago

In November 2024, environmental police in Rochedo, Brazil, stumbled on an unexpected sight: thousands of orange-and-black bumblebee catfish scaling the slippery rocks behind waterfalls on the Aquidauana River. A week later, a team of Brazilian scientists arrived to document the unprecedented event, detailing their findings. These videos provide rare insight into the lives and migrations of these little-studied catfish, the authors said. This genus of small South American fish, which inhabits the rocky bottoms of fast-flowing streams, only became known to science in 2017. Learn more:

In November 2024, environmental police in Rochedo, Brazil, stumbled on an unexpected sight: thousands of orange-and-black bumblebee catfish scaling the slippery rocks behind waterfalls on the Aquidauana River. A week later, a team of Brazilian scientists arrived to document the unprecedented event, detailing their findings. These videos provide rare insight into the lives and migrations of these little-studied catfish, the authors said. This genus of small South American fish, which inhabits the rocky bottoms of fast-flowing streams, only became known to science in 2017. Learn more:

News from Science

916,447 views • 9 months ago

About a decade ago, a baker in a small mountainous village in southern Austria noticed his cow doing something unusual. When Veronika had an itch, she would grab a stick in her mouth and use it to scratch her body. Over the years, the brown bovid’s technique improved. She could pick up objects as large as a broom or rake and move them around with her prehensile tongue, changing their length and orientation to ensure the best possible scratch. The behavior isn’t just a clever trick: It’s the first documented case of tool use in cattle, scientists report. And, it turns out, one of Veronika’s skills has only been seen in humans and chimpanzees. Learn more:

About a decade ago, a baker in a small mountainous village in southern Austria noticed his cow doing something unusual. When Veronika had an itch, she would grab a stick in her mouth and use it to scratch her body. Over the years, the brown bovid’s technique improved. She could pick up objects as large as a broom or rake and move them around with her prehensile tongue, changing their length and orientation to ensure the best possible scratch. The behavior isn’t just a clever trick: It’s the first documented case of tool use in cattle, scientists report. And, it turns out, one of Veronika’s skills has only been seen in humans and chimpanzees. Learn more:

News from Science

552,611 views • 9 months ago

Same relaxing sounds, different photo. This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like. By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape. If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared. Learn more:

Same relaxing sounds, different photo. This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like. By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape. If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared. Learn more:

News from Science

94,523 views • 2 months ago

Dragonflies perform an amazing stunt so quickly most people never see it. After emerging from a pond dive, the insects execute several summersaults in midair—a feat scientists have captured for the first time with high-speed video. The bugs aren’t showing off: The quick dip cools them down, and the loop-the-loops help them dry off by flicking away the water. Learn more:

Dragonflies perform an amazing stunt so quickly most people never see it. After emerging from a pond dive, the insects execute several summersaults in midair—a feat scientists have captured for the first time with high-speed video. The bugs aren’t showing off: The quick dip cools them down, and the loop-the-loops help them dry off by flicking away the water. Learn more:

News from Science

324,998 views • 10 months ago

Rapid color changes in marlins may prevent the predators from impaling one another during group attacks. Learn more:

Rapid color changes in marlins may prevent the predators from impaling one another during group attacks. Learn more:

News from Science

804,710 views • 2 years ago

It sounds like an orca rampage. Over the past 6 years, killer whales have been ramming boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, sinking nine, and parading fiberglass remnants around like trophies. Vessels are frequently towed into shipyards with tooth rakes on their undersides and rudders ripped off, causing millions of dollars in damage. Sailors have had enough. But are the giant cetaceans really out for blood? Not according to a recent study: Based on underwater footage and firsthand observations, scientists conclude the killer whales aren’t trying to harm humans. Instead, they probably just want to play. Learn more:

It sounds like an orca rampage. Over the past 6 years, killer whales have been ramming boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, sinking nine, and parading fiberglass remnants around like trophies. Vessels are frequently towed into shipyards with tooth rakes on their undersides and rudders ripped off, causing millions of dollars in damage. Sailors have had enough. But are the giant cetaceans really out for blood? Not according to a recent study: Based on underwater footage and firsthand observations, scientists conclude the killer whales aren’t trying to harm humans. Instead, they probably just want to play. Learn more:

News from Science

54,664 views • 1 month ago

This octopus grew a ninth arm—which soon developed a mind of its own. Learn more on #WorldOctopusDay:

This octopus grew a ninth arm—which soon developed a mind of its own. Learn more on #WorldOctopusDay:

News from Science

24,211 views • 22 days ago

Physicists say they have successfully demonstrated via high-resolution simulations that a DNA molecule can in principle behave like an Archimedes screw in nanoscale. Learn more:

Physicists say they have successfully demonstrated via high-resolution simulations that a DNA molecule can in principle behave like an Archimedes screw in nanoscale. Learn more:

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96,528 views • 3 months ago

In 1974, paleoanthropologist Don Johanson and student Tom Gray unearthed a 40% complete skeleton of an early human ancestor, fundamentally changing the human family tree. The specimen acquired a nickname that persisted: Lucy, after the Beatles song playing at the fossil hunter’s camp—“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” At 3.2 million years old, some thought her species, Australopithecus afarensis, was close to when the ancestor of humans had split from the ancestor of chimpanzees. But in the past 50 years, discoveries of hominins both older and the same age as Lucy have pushed that split millions of years deeper in time, and challenged her position as mother of us all. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

In 1974, paleoanthropologist Don Johanson and student Tom Gray unearthed a 40% complete skeleton of an early human ancestor, fundamentally changing the human family tree. The specimen acquired a nickname that persisted: Lucy, after the Beatles song playing at the fossil hunter’s camp—“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” At 3.2 million years old, some thought her species, Australopithecus afarensis, was close to when the ancestor of humans had split from the ancestor of chimpanzees. But in the past 50 years, discoveries of hominins both older and the same age as Lucy have pushed that split millions of years deeper in time, and challenged her position as mother of us all. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

News from Science

12,227 views • 13 days ago

A speck in a dish—that’s all the nervous system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster looks like to the naked eye. But look closely enough, and it resolves into a network of 166,700 nerve cells connected through 124.2 million synapses. The intricate map—called a connectome—has now been published, marking the end of an ambitious 20-year research project. Learn more:

A speck in a dish—that’s all the nervous system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster looks like to the naked eye. But look closely enough, and it resolves into a network of 166,700 nerve cells connected through 124.2 million synapses. The intricate map—called a connectome—has now been published, marking the end of an ambitious 20-year research project. Learn more:

News from Science

29,460 views • 1 month ago

Physicists say they have successfully demonstrated via high-resolution simulations that a DNA molecule can in principle behave like an Archimedes screw in nanoscale. Learn more:

Physicists say they have successfully demonstrated via high-resolution simulations that a DNA molecule can in principle behave like an Archimedes screw in nanoscale. Learn more:

News from Science

36,433 views • 2 months ago

It’s not exactly the T-1000—yet. But researchers have created a liquid metal robot that can mimic the shape-shifting abilities of the silvery, morphing killer robot in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

It’s not exactly the T-1000—yet. But researchers have created a liquid metal robot that can mimic the shape-shifting abilities of the silvery, morphing killer robot in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

News from Science

214,503 views • 3 years ago

In a Southern California aquarium, a young leopard shark rushes headfirst toward a plastic squid toy and then—as if in a game of chicken—makes a last-minute dash to the left, barely clearing the dangling rubber tentacles. Meanwhile, his tankmate, a California skate, grabs an orange ring with her mouth, rolling the textured plastic around with her tongue. And over at the tank’s sandy bottom, a hovering horn shark glides over to a bright yellow hoop and squeezes himself—along with all his jutting fins—right through it. These cartilaginous fish aren’t putting on a show. It seems they’re playing—just for the fun of it, according to the team behind the new study. The findings, the researchers say, offer the strongest evidence yet that sharks engage in play behavior. Learn more:

In a Southern California aquarium, a young leopard shark rushes headfirst toward a plastic squid toy and then—as if in a game of chicken—makes a last-minute dash to the left, barely clearing the dangling rubber tentacles. Meanwhile, his tankmate, a California skate, grabs an orange ring with her mouth, rolling the textured plastic around with her tongue. And over at the tank’s sandy bottom, a hovering horn shark glides over to a bright yellow hoop and squeezes himself—along with all his jutting fins—right through it. These cartilaginous fish aren’t putting on a show. It seems they’re playing—just for the fun of it, according to the team behind the new study. The findings, the researchers say, offer the strongest evidence yet that sharks engage in play behavior. Learn more:

News from Science

61,058 views • 11 months ago

This insect-size microbot, called RoBeetle, runs on methanol—a type of alcohol commonly found in solvents and antifreeze. Read more:

This insect-size microbot, called RoBeetle, runs on methanol—a type of alcohol commonly found in solvents and antifreeze. Read more:

News from Science

17,535 views • 2 months ago

When stressed, this comb jelly reverts to a larval form, then matures again when favorable conditions return. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

When stressed, this comb jelly reverts to a larval form, then matures again when favorable conditions return. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives

News from Science

13,622 views • 2 months ago

Homing pigeons orient themselves by the Sun’s position under sunny skies and rely on their magnetic sense when it is cloudy. Under overcast conditions, homing pigeons with their normal liver macrophages had little issue flying a 19-kilometer route for which they had been trained. When injected with clodronate liposomes that knocked out the liver macrophages, the pigeons could navigate the route without issue when it was sunny. Under overcast skies, however, homing pigeons with depleted liver macrophages struggled mightily to find their way home—suggesting the immune cells play a role in the birds’ magnetic sense. Learn more:

Homing pigeons orient themselves by the Sun’s position under sunny skies and rely on their magnetic sense when it is cloudy. Under overcast conditions, homing pigeons with their normal liver macrophages had little issue flying a 19-kilometer route for which they had been trained. When injected with clodronate liposomes that knocked out the liver macrophages, the pigeons could navigate the route without issue when it was sunny. Under overcast skies, however, homing pigeons with depleted liver macrophages struggled mightily to find their way home—suggesting the immune cells play a role in the birds’ magnetic sense. Learn more:

News from Science

17,418 views • 3 months ago

In July 2019, a remotely operated vehicle filmed an unusual creature 2 kilometers below the waves near Jarvis Island in the central Pacific Ocean. Three meters long with pink and gray skin, jaws that can snap outward in a flash, and a comically elongated snout, the animal leisurely glid along the sea floor. Five years later, researchers spotted the same species near Tonga. Both were goblin sharks, an odd and poorly understood animal that had never been filmed in its deep-sea home. Learn more:

In July 2019, a remotely operated vehicle filmed an unusual creature 2 kilometers below the waves near Jarvis Island in the central Pacific Ocean. Three meters long with pink and gray skin, jaws that can snap outward in a flash, and a comically elongated snout, the animal leisurely glid along the sea floor. Five years later, researchers spotted the same species near Tonga. Both were goblin sharks, an odd and poorly understood animal that had never been filmed in its deep-sea home. Learn more:

News from Science

15,154 views • 4 months ago