All Stories by Susan Milius
- Microbes
What the weird world of protists can teach us about life on Earth
Microbes vastly outnumber multicellular life on Earth. A close-up look at protists highlights how much we don't know about the microscopic world.
- Plants
Mimosa plant ‘muscles’ fold tickled leaves fast
A mimosa plant uses special cells to close leaflets when bumped and then reopen them — again and again.
- Animals
Sleeping glass frogs go into stealth mode by hiding red blood cells
Glass frogs snoozing among leaves blend in by hiding almost all their red blood cells in their liver.
- Animals
Some young fruit flies’ eyeballs literally pop out of their heads
The first published photo shoot of developing Pelmatops flies shows how their eyes rise on gangly stalks in the first hour of adulthood.
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A sea slug’s head can crawl around and grow a whole new body
Some chopped-up flatworms can regrow whole bodies from bits and pieces. But a sea slug head can regrow fancier organs such as hearts.
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Tiny spider uses silk to lift prey 50 times its own weight
Dropping the right silk let’s a spider haul mice, lizards and other giants up off the ground.
- Plants
‘Vampire’ parasite challenges the definition of a plant
Langsdorffia are stripped down to their essentials. Lacking green leaves for photosynthesis, they steal energy and nutrients from other plants.
- Animals
What you need to know about ‘murder hornets’
Two new specimens of the world’s largest hornet have just turned up in the United States. Here’s what to make of them and other alien-hornet invaders.
- Animals
Bumblebees may bite leaves to spur plant blooming
In a pollen shortage, some bees nick holes in tomato leaves. This can speed up flowering and pollen production by weeks.
- Animals
Why elephants and armadillos might easily get drunk
Stories of drunken elephants may not be a myth. Differences in a gene for breaking down alcohol could explain how they get tipsy.
- Animals
Pandas use their heads as a kind of extra limb for climbing
Their short legs on a stout bear body mean pandas use a rare technique to climb up a tree.
- Climate
5 things to know about the climate-saving benefits of tree planting
A recent analysis of the benefits of massive efforts to plant more trees triggered a firestorm of controversy.
