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Nature
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As grandiose as we might think our civilizations have become, we are but the latest entry in the long chronicle detailing life on Earth. We humans share this planet with fellow organisms whose vast numbers completely tower over our own. We borrowed this planet from its previous inhabitants from eons ago and whose lives were written on the soil-turned-rock on which they were laid to rest. Modern Sciences urges its readers to contemplate our planetary co-inhabitants, both past and present.
Flies evade your swatting thanks to sophisticated vision and neural shortcuts
Fly brains can process images very quickly. www.shutterexperiments.com/Moment via GettyImages Jamie Theobald, Florida International University and Ravindra Palavalli-Nettimi,…
Ancient megalodon super-predators could swallow a great white shark whole, new model reveals
J.J. Giraldo, Author provided Stephen Wroe, University of New England In a new 3D modelling study published this…
Did an Organ Just “Un-die?”
An hour after a pig’s heart stopped beating, researchers managed to kick its organs back to life. How…
A key feature contributed to sauropods getting so enormous, new dino foot study reveals
Herschel Hoffmeyer/Shutterstock Steven W. Salisbury, The University of Queensland; Andréas Jannel, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, and Olga Panagiotopoulou,…
What is this new Langya virus? Do we need to be worried?
People could have caught the virus from wild shrews. Shutterstock Allen Cheng, Monash University A new virus, Langya…
(How) Do You Smell That?
Did you get a whiff of that nearby restaurant’s cuisine as you walked by? In doing so, you…
Monarch butterflies join the Red List of endangered species, thanks to habitat loss, climate change and pesticides
Monarch butterflies cluster on a eucalyptus tree at Pismo State Beach’s Monarch Butterfly Grove in California. Ruby Wallau/Getty…
I spent a year squeezing leaves to measure their water content. Here’s what I learned
Tomás I. Fuenzalida, Author provided Tomás I. Fuenzalida, Australian National University How do you tell if your plants…
Double-check Your Cup of Coffee: The Evolutionary Story of Caffeine
Ever wake up in the morning holding your nearest cup of joe, and wonder how nature even came…
Meet Qikiqtania, a fossil fish with the good sense to stay in the water while others ventured onto land
An artist’s vision of Qikiqtania enjoying its fully aquatic, free-swimming lifestyle. Alex Boersma, CC BY-ND Thomas Stewart, Penn…