A team of researchers headed by University of British Columbia scientist Stephen Withers reports on enzymes -- from the human gut -- that remove A or B antigens from red blood cells 30 times more efficiently than previously reported enzymes.

It looks like something out of a sad fairy tale. Tiny ants are pulling over petals, making a pile, and on top rests a dead bumblebee. By Jacinta Bowler.

In separate studies published online in Nature on Aug. 1, two independent research teams report the discovery of a new, rare type of cell in the human airway. These cells appear to be the primary source of activity of the CFTR gene, mutations to which cause cystic fibrosis, a multiorgan disease that affects more than 70,000 people worldwide.

The deep red gems have long been found marred with internal markings. Researchers propose a new explanation involving fungal microorganisms who have found a nice place to live. By Veronique Greenwood.

A handful of species have seemingly avoided the aging process. By Erica Tennenhouse.

Only when flowering is Pilostyles visible externally, the flowers erupting from the stems of its host like a weird botanical Alien.

Salamanders in the European Alps and elsewhere can put off developing into adults for years—or their entire lives—in certain circumstances. By Elizabeth Anne Brown.

Rakesh Mogul, a Cal Poly Pomona professor of biological chemistry, was the lead author of an article in the journal Astrobiology that offers the first biochemical evidence explaining the reason the contamination persists.

Unlike other birds, parrots don't rely on what they eat to colour their feathers. Instead they rely on some fancy feather physics. By Belinda Smith.

During his thirty years tracking lost souls through the Smokies and beyond McCarter rescued twenty-six people, many of them children. These days he's still in the mountains, often thinking about those he found—and the few he didn't. By Daniel Wallace.

Many parasites can control the behavior of their hosts -- sometimes in very gruesome ways. A new article published today describes some of the sophisticated interactions between a variety of parasites and their hosts, and highlights how the new field of neuro-parasitology could provide insights into the neurological basis for behavior and decision-making. (May 1, 2018)

An injured ring-tailed lemur’s personal scent plummets, and others can use that as a signal to swoop in on mates or territory. By Liz Langley.

It can get aggressive. 

Penises are shrinking, and more boys are being born with genital defects, two Melbourne scientists claim. They think chemicals in plastics are to blame. Their controversial stance is based on studies of animals exposed to the chemicals, as well as human data they say shows rates of hypospadia – a penis birth defect causing a range of functionality problems – have doubled in Australia.

A wood and glass case invented in the early 19th-century transformed the movement of plants around the world. In Melbourne, several thousand people greeted a primrose on its arrival from England.

In an article just appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Lancet and colleagues report an extensive literature survey, showing that lipids can exert enzyme-like catalysis, similar to ribozymes.

Did you ever wake up from a long nap feeling a little disoriented, not quite knowing where you were? Now, imagine getting a wake-up call after being "asleep" for 42,000 years. In Siberia, melting permafrost is releasing nematodes — microscopic worms that live in soil — that have been suspended in a deep freeze since the Pleistocene. Despite being frozen for tens of thousands of years, two species of these worms were successfully revived, scientists recently reported in a new study.

It's not just a cool "twisted prism," either. The scutoid plays a role in the development of biological organisms. By Adam Rosenberg.

When your mouth is tiny, teamwork can help to take down enormous prey. By Christie Wilcox.

Why do these plants do this? By Cynthia Wood.

Such an instrument could allow researchers to look for extraterrestrial microbial life directly.

Our big toe was one of the last parts of the foot to become human-like, as our early ancestors evolved to walk on two legs.

Scientists seek to crack an evolutionary code.

The aesthetically challenged naked mole rat could offer clues to battling disease and slowing the effects of aging.

As our brains become increasingly intertwined with our technologies, we run the risk of exposing our minds to hackers. As this new video from AsapScience shows, the possibility is very real.

Three scientists won the Nobel medicine prize on Monday for plotting how cells transfer vital materials such as hormones and brain chemicals to other cells, giving insight into diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism and diabetes.

There have been some interesting creatures popping up in the Arctic. Canadian hunters have found white bears with brown tints—a cross between Ursus maritimus, the polar bear, and Ursus arctos horribilis, the grizzly. A couple of decades ago, off the coast of Greenland, something that appeared to be half-narwhal, half-beluga surfaced, and much more recently, Dall’s porpoise and harbor porpoise mixes have been swimming near British Columbia.

While death's cold, bony fingers will inevitably reach all creatures, Mother Nature has imbued a few of her quirkier children with resilient biology seemingly predisposed to keep mortality at bay. Tapping into their secrets has long been a quest for scientists, not least because the thought of our minds flickering out one day continues to bother most people. Here, in no particular order, are five animals who may just hold to clues to unlocking everlasting life

Tony Goldberg, a US professor of pathobiological science, recently returned from an Africa research trip only to discover that a potentially new species of tick had come back with him hidden up his nose. 

Twenty years ago, sequencing the human genome was one of the most ambitious science projects ever attempted. Today, compared to the collection of genomes of the microorganisms living in our bodies, the ocean, the soil and elsewhere, each human genome, which easily fits on a DVD, is comparatively simple. Its 3 billion DNA base pairs and about 20,000 genes seem paltry next to the roughly 100 billion bases and millions of genes that make up the microbes found in the human body.

The idea that there were several different human species walking the Earth two million years ago has been dealt a blow. Instead, scientists say early human fossils found in Africa and Eurasia may have been part of the same species.

Most scientists conduct their research in a lab, or by working with calculations or simulations on computers. Some engage in field work, perhaps observing animals in the wild or excavating fossils. Then, there’s the team of biologists from Brown University led by Henry Astley that studies the movement of animals and has been conducting some science in a decidedly less conventional atmosphere.

Group of researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has shown that plants can absorb gold particles deep underground and bring it upward through their tissues—a finding that could help mineral exploration companies mine for gold.

Neuroscientists have learned that dendrites do more than just provide passive wiring in the brain. These nerve cell connectors also process information, essentially functioning as tiny computers. Our brains, it would appear, pack more computing power than we assumed.

This is unbelievable, but the fruit fly G tridens has somehow evolved to have what looks like pictures of ants on its wings. Seriously, its transparent wings have an ant design on them complete with "six legs, two antennae, a head, thorax and tapered abdomen." It's nature's evolutionary art painted on a fly's wings.