biology
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Australia Has Venomous Snakes, Spiders, and… Trees
Notorious stinging trees from Australia cause agonising pain that can linger for weeks and even months. New research suggests this nettle relative is actually venomous, producing a toxin not unlike the venom of spiders.
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Sweet-Smelling Locust Pheromone Could Be Key to Stopping Their Swarms
Scientists have identified the pheromone responsible for turning individual locusts into the swarming variety. They also found a way to “turn off” locusts’ ability to respond to this pheromone, in a breakthrough that could lead to new control strategies for preventing the spread of these voracious and extremely destructive insects.
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How Sperm ‘Swim’ May Be Nothing But an Optical Illusion
An international group of scientists say their latest research will upturn one of the earliest scientific discoveries ever made about human sperm. In a new paper out Friday, they seem to show that sperm cells don’t propel themselves by simply flicking their tails back and forth, as is commonly believed. Rather, sperm perform a complex…
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What’s the Best Human Brain Alternative for Hungry Zombies?
Let’s say you’re a zombie. You’re lumbering around, doing your zombie-mumble, and just ten feet ahead you see a living human being. Your first impulse, of course, is to head over there and eat their brain. And you’re about to do just that, when suddenly you feel a pang of something like shame. You remember,…