Life
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AnimalsGiant Antarctic sea spiders breathe really strangely
Sea spiders have many bizarre body systems. Scientists have now discovered that they breathe and circulate oxygen in a way never seen before.
By Ilima Loomis -
LifeScientists Say: Histology
When scientists study the parts of an animal or plant, they are studying anatomy. When they need a microscope to see the details of that anatomy, they are studying histology.
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EcosystemsCool Jobs: Science deep beneath the waves
These scientists probe the sea’s depths, its strange inhabitants, the movement of water and how life evolves in extremes.
By Ilima Loomis -
AnimalsThis tiny animal is apocalypse-proof
Microscopic animals called water bears can survive nearly any kind of apocalypse, from asteroids and nuclear war to exploding stars.
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AnimalsHumpbacks flap their flippers like underwater birds
Surprising new video shows humpback whales flapping their front flippers to move their massive bodies toward their prey.
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AnimalsCould a dragonfly’s wings be alive — and breathing?
Highly magnified image showing what looks like breathing tubes suggests the morpho dragonfly’s wings may be unexpectedly alive.
By Susan Milius -
GeneticsScientists hide a real movie within a germ’s DNA
A gene-editing technology called CRISPR helped scientists encode a short movie in the DNA of E. coli bacteria.
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GeneticsExplainer: How CRISPR works
Scientists are using a tool called CRISPR to edit DNA in all types of cells.
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AnimalsNight lights have a dark side
Artificial light at night not only affects our view of the night sky, but also has the ability to impair animal behaviors — and probably our health.
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AnimalsAnalyze This! Mosquito repellents that work
Spray-on repellents are generally the best at keeping those blood suckers from making you their next meal, new data show.
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AgricultureScientists Say: Domestication
Domestication is the process of deliberately taking a wild organism — a plant or animal for instance — and making it a part of our daily lives.
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AnimalsWildebeest drownings feed a river ecosystem for years
Hundreds or thousands of wildebeests can drown at a time in the Mara River. Those carcasses, however, will feed a succession of other animals.