Zebra Stripes as Insect Defense

Researchers have found the vertical stripes of the zebra to be the least attractive hide pattern for horseflies (tabanids), who are otherwise attracted to horizontally polarized light to identify aquatic environments, suggesting the zebra stripes evolved as a defense against these insects.

New "Porto Potty" Flower

A new flower has been discovered in Madagascar of the same genus as the "corpse flower," this species (Amorphophallus perrieri) nicknamed the "porto potty" flower after its strong stench of rotting meat and feces used to attract insects.

Shipping Noise Stresses Whales

Using data from the two days following the 9/11 attacks in which shipping traffic all but ceased in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, marine biologists found stress-hormone levels taken from North Atlantic right whale feces to be lower than the following four years, providing the first evidence that human underwater noise stresses whale populations.

Tarsiers Call in Ultrasound

New research has discovered that Philippine tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta) are the only primate species and one of the few mammal species to communicate using purely ultrasonic calls, vocalizing at 70 kHz to 90 kHz and well beyond the range of human hearing.

Full Genome of Extinct Humans

Researchers have completed deriving the entire genome of a previously unknown extinct line of humans, a group closely related to Neanderthals called Denisovians, from a small fragment of a finger bone found in the Denisovia Cave in southern Siberia.

Chirp of Extinct Cricket

Researchers have constructed a model of a fossilized bush cricket (Archaboilus musicus) found in northeast China from its exceptionally well-preserved microscopic wing features enough to reproduce the song of this extinct species after 160 million years.

Russian Origin for First Americans

New genetic research has revealed a link between Native American populations and the indigenous groups of the Altay Mountains of southern Siberia dating back about 18,000 years, suggesting a possible origin point for the descendants of the original North American settlers.

Jupiter's Moon Controls Auroras

The plasma from ionic sulphur produced by Jupiter's volcanic moon Io has been shown to affect the width and activity of that planet's permanent ring of auroral light surrounding each of its poles.

Predicting Volcanic Eruptions

New studies suggest the recharge of the magma reservoir beneath certain volcanoes with silicic magma and associated crystal growth in the century before an eruption may provide a means of predicting an eruption decades before the actual event.

Ancient Blood-Sucking Parasite

The unique discovery of an extinct genus of blood-sucking bat fly trapped in amber for 20 to 30 million years has revealed several key facts, including the specific co-evolution of bats and bat flies and the prevalence of malaria in the New World for millions of years.

Different Outside Solar System

Data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer probe has revealed the space outside our own solar system to be very different than the space within the heliosphere, with more free oxygen atoms found inside our solar system than in the immediate interstellar space.

Stonehenge Precursor Found

Excavation of a Stone Age site on Scotland's Ness of Brodgar dating to 3200 B.C. has revealed an earthwork site that may have served as a model for Stonehenge and other similar complexes across ancient Great Britain.

Active Sun Clears Space Junk

The recent increase in solar activity has had the byproduct of helping to clear away some millions of pieces of man-made space junk left in orbit around Earth, with the increased solar radiation causing the thermosphere to swell and increase the drag on objects in orbit.

Volcanoes Triggered Little Ice Age

A new study suggests a 50-year period that included four massive eruptions of tropical volcanoes triggered the "Little Ice Age," a period of extended cooling due to decreased solar radiation that lasted from about 1300 A.D. into the nineteenth century.