Life Sciences

Shading the Great Barrier Reef from the sun might slow bleaching-induced coral decline

September 20, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock As ocean temperatures rise, corals can lose their color due to heat stress. Bleaching does not kill corals [...]

Reefs made from culled trees can help kickstart sea life in threatened waters

August 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer One of the ‘tree-reefs’ being examined after five months in the Wadden Sea. Image credit: Jon Dickson Researchers [...]

City-living may make male song sparrows more doting ‘super’ fathers

August 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Rob Lachlan New behavioral traits are often the first response of animals to changing environmental conditions. As cities [...]

Scientists solve ‘enigma’ of pygmy right whales’ feeding habits

July 31, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer A pygmy right whales in the wild. Image credit: Henry Cordell Researchers have shown from stable isotope ratios in the baleen of [...]

Stressed rattlesnakes found to calm down in the company of a nearby ‘friend’

July 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Jasper Nance/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) When a creature’s stress levels decrease because of the presence of a companion, [...]

Migrant orangutans learn which foods are good to eat by watching the locals

July 5, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer An unflanged migrant orangutan male (on the left side) and an adolescent local orangutan female (on the right side) are peering [...]

Humans evolved to walk with an extra spring in our step

May 30, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Scientists have discovered that the recoil created by the flexible arch of human feet helps [...]

Termite mounds reveal secret to creating ‘living and breathing’ buildings that use less energy

May 26, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Macrotermes termite mound in Namibia. Image credit: D. Andréen Scientists studied the ‘egress complex’ of Macrotermes [...]

Can lions coexist with cattle in Africa?

May 9, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Laurence G Frank/Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock Protecting lions and the interests of cattle producers in Kenya is a difficult [...]

Secret behind Amazonian ‘dark earth’ could help speed up forest restoration across the globe

May 5, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Researchers from Brazil showed that Amazonian dark earth (ADE), soils enriched by Amerindian people thousands of years ago, [...]

Old dogs with dementia sleep less deeply, just like people with Alzheimer’s

April 28, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists have shown that old dogs with canine dementia have sleep and brain wave patterns that mirror those found in people [...]

Orb weaver spider glue properties evolve faster than their glue genes, scientists find

April 18, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Orb weaver spiders make the capture threads of their webs sticky with an aqueous glue made in [...]

‘Farmer’ beetle finds suitable host trees by tracing scent of its fungus crop

April 14, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Alnus ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus) in their galleries, tending the brood and fungus. Image credit: Antonio Gugliuzzo [...]

Coral-eating fish poo may act as ‘probiotics’ for reefs

April 13, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Coral-eating fish are thought to weaken coral reefs because they consume coral tissue, whereas [...]

Most plastic eaten by city vultures comes straight from food outlets

April 12, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Black vultures, Coragyps atratus, in the US. Image credit: Hannah Partridge Researchers have shown that black and turkey vultures [...]

Lizards at US Army installation are stress eating during flyovers

March 29, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Colorado checkered whiptail, Aspidoscelis neotesselata. Image credit: Carina Kusaka Scientists studied the response of an [...]

Unusual Toxoplasma parasite strain killed sea otters and could threaten other marine life

March 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image by Mr Laird Henkel, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Four sea otters that stranded in California were [...]

Common meat-free proteins may trigger soybean and peanut allergies in some people

March 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Meat-free proteins based on legumes are increasingly common. But so are allergies to soy and [...]

Rapid surge in highly contagious killer fungus poses new threat to amphibians across Africa

March 15, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Researchers studied the prevalence of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in a total of 16,900 historical and recent [...]

Bees follow linear landmarks to find their way home, just like the first pilots

March 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists have shown that honeybees retain a memory of the dominant linear landscape elements in their home area like channels, [...]

European big cat population threatened with extinction as genetics show the population is near collapse

February 13, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Eurasian lynxes dispersed across the Swiss border with France in the late 1970s, but the [...]

‘Many kids go through a phase where they want to be a marine scientist. For me, it wasn’t a phase’

February 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Patricia Albano/Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Patricia stands with remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer during [...]

Medicines that modify the circadian clock might help heal scars more cleanly

February 1, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Scientists determined that compounds which play key roles in both collagen synthesis and circadian [...]

Songbird species work together to mob predator owls, but only strike when the time is right

January 31, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Northern pygmy owl, Glaucidium gnoma. Image credit: W Douglas Robinson Scientists have now shown that songbirds don’t just flee [...]

‘Golden boy’ mummy was protected by 49 precious amulets, CT scans reveal

January 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer The ‘Golden boy’ digitally unwrapped, stepwise. Image credit: SN Saleem Scientists used CT scans to ‘digitally [...]

Microalgae could be the future of sustainable superfood in a rapidly changing world, study finds

January 19, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Peter Rejcek, science writer The global population recently hit eight billion people. Yet climate change and human environmental impacts threaten our long-term food [...]

From pylons to pandas: 5 Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

January 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Our toilets can yield excellent alternatives for widespread polluting fertilizers

January 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists show that the yield of cabbages grown on soils supplied with two modern nitrified urine fertilizers recycled from [...]

Eating almonds daily boosts exercise recovery molecule by 69% among ‘weekend warriors’

January 9, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer A new randomized controlled trial showed that participants who daily ate 57g almonds over four weeks had a 69% higher level of [...]

Screening a puppy’s DNA methylome may help predict how energetic or fearful they will be

December 16, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists found that differences in the epigenome, in particular the DNA methylome, are predictably associated with differences [...]

Evolution of bat wings and calls through ‘foraging syndromes’ allows diversity to flourish

December 9, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Egyptian slit-faced bats, Nycteris thebaica In a new study, scientists show that the wing shape and the echolocation frequency of [...]

Could new cancer drugs come from potatoes and tomatoes?

December 7, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Polish scientists revealed the potential for new cancer drugs to be formulated from bioactive [...]

World’s heaviest flying bird may be self-medicating on plants used in traditional medicine

November 23, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Great bustard male displaying on lek. Image credit: Carlos Palacín Researchers show that great bustards in Spain prefer to eat [...]

Having good friendships may make for a healthier gut microbiome

November 11, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Grooming rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago. Image credit: Lauren Brent Researchers show for the first time that monkeys that are [...]

From ghost gear to microbe memories: 4 Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

November 4, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Italian researchers discover new recipe for extending shelf life of fresh pasta by 30 days

November 2, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Peter Rejcek, science writer Image credit: Raimunda Losantos / Shutterstock.com Pasta is one of the most popular food staples in the world, but fresh pasta has a limited [...]

‘Virtual autopsy’ identifies a 17th century mummified toddler hidden from the sun

October 26, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Riderfoot/Shutterstock.com Scientists used a ‘virtual autopsy’ to examine the mummy of a child found in an [...]

CO2 ventilation breakthrough could turn city rooftops into bumper vegetable gardens

October 24, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Scientists find that expelled air from ventilation systems can make corn and spinach grow taller [...]

Secret behind spectacular blooms in world’s driest desert is invisible to human eyes

October 21, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer The 2021 ‘desierto florido’ near Caldera, Chile. The purple flowers are the pussypaw Cistanthe longiscapa (family [...]

Scientists peel back ancient layers of banana DNA to reveal mystery ancestors

October 7, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Researchers compare the genomes of more than 200 wild and domesticated varieties of bananas and show that three extra ancestors, [...]

Sugary poo could be used to lure destructive plant pests to their doom

September 27, 2022 // 0 Comments

By K.E.D. Coan, science writer Aggregation of spotted lanternflies, Lycorma delicatula. Image credit: Jana Shea / Shutterstock.com Spotted lanternflies send signals with [...]

Acquired immunity against random food allergens may protect some lucky people against Covid-19

September 23, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Conn Hastings, science writer A new study has investigated the potential of proteins in common foods to elicit protection against SARS-CoV-2. The researchers found that [...]

Teams of sperm swim more smoothly against the current

September 22, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Peter Rejcek, science writer The physics of how sperm navigate their way to an egg in mammals, including humans, are not well understood. The tendency for sperm to cluster [...]

Scientific ‘detective work’ reveals South American mummies were brutally murdered

September 9, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Sketch from the book by Reiss and Stübel (1887. The necropolis at Ancon) on the excavations and findings at the necropolis of [...]

Beetles rely on unique ‘back pockets’ to keep bacterial symbionts safe during metamorphosis

August 30, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Lagria villosa adult. Image credit: RS Janke Researchers show that beetles in the genus Lagria have evolved unique ‘back [...]

Modern pesticides damage the brain of bees so they can’t move in a straight line

August 17, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Researchers show for the first time that honeybee foragers exposed to the pesticides sulfoxaflor and [...]

Humans have totally altered small mammal communities in just a few centuries

August 15, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Suzanna Burgelman, science writer Image: Paul Abrahams/Shutterstock.com Researchers have found that small mammal communities today are fundamentally different from even a [...]

Yoda-like tarsiers push virtuoso singing to their physiological limits

August 2, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Pair of Gursky’s spectral tarsiers, Tarsius spectrumgurskyae. Image credit: Arie de Gier / Shutterstock.com Researchers [...]

Microbial ´dark matter´: centuries-old lava caves of Hawaiʻi Island contain thousands of unknown bacterial species

July 21, 2022 // 0 Comments

By K.E.D. Coan, science writer Thick microbial mats hang under a rock ledge in steam vents that run along the Eastern Rift Zone on Hawaiʻi Island. Image Credit: Jimmy Saw [...]

Scientists identify DNA ‘hotspots’ that tell zebrafish to change sex in warmer waters

July 19, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Zebrafish, Danio rerio Scientists identify 54 ‘hotspots’ in the genome for cross-talk between the environment, in [...]