Next time you're stung by a wasp or a honeybee, consider the elegantly designed stinger that caused you so much pain.
In a new study, researchers found that the stingers of the two species are about five times softer at the tip than at the base to make it easier to pierce your skin. The stingers...
Getting a grip on the slow but unique evolution of sharks
Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan, in collaboration with other Japanese institutes and aquariums, have decoded the whole genomes of two shark species for the first time and improved the whale shark genome sequences released previously. By analyzing the genomes and comparing them with those of other vertebrate species,...
Bag a job, bag your prey
How many jobs should an applicant consider before accepting the next job offer? Turns out the same decision-making process that goes into searching for a job also applies to hunters searching for prey, and the knowledge can be used in conservation.
In a new study published today, researchers used a job search theoretical model to better...
Successful mouse couples talk out infidelity in calm tones
California mice are relatively solitary animals, but put two in a room and they'll talk each other's ears off.
And while all the cooing, chirping and barking they use to woo mates or drive off enemies is at too high a frequency for human eavesdroppers to hear, they may speak volumes about the way the mice...
Nanoparticles to treat snakebites
Venomous snakebites affect 2.5 million people, and annually cause more than 100,000 deaths and leave 400,000 individuals with permanent physical and psychological trauma each year. Researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have now described a new approach to treating snake bites, using nanoparticles to bind to venom toxins and prevent the spread of venom...
Why huskies have blue eyes
DNA testing of more than 6,000 dogs has revealed that a duplication on canine chromosome 18 is strongly associated with blue eyes in Siberian Huskies, according to a study published October 4, 2018, in the open-access journal PLOS Genetics by Adam Boyko and Aaron Sams of Embark Veterinary, Inc., and colleagues. Embark is a dog...