PHYSorg

A study in the journal Forests highlights the critical need for understanding and managing nonnative forest specialist and generalist pests.

The North Korean government engages in unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade, which includes species protected under its own laws and poses a threat to biodiversity recovery in the region, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

An international team of primate researchers has published the 25 most endangered primate species in Asia, Africa, Madagascar and South America for the years 2023 to 2025. The publication emphasizes how urgently global conservation measures need to be…

A peculiar spiny fossil, once thought to represent one of the earliest mollusks, has now been conclusively reclassified by scientists from Durham University and Yunnan University as something entirely different—a distant relative of sponge-like creatures…

Feedlot cattle with access to grooming brushes are generally more content, sociable and have less stress, according to recent research out of Murdoch University's Center for Animal Production and Health.

When a species reproduces, typically, each parent passes on one of their two versions (alleles) of a given gene to their offspring. But not all alleles play fair in their quest to be passed onto future generations.

Researchers led by Professor Erik van Nimwegen at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have discovered a new mechanism in bacteria that controls their response to prevailing environmental conditions. They derived their theory from a simple yet interesting…

What lives off the Northwest coasts of Spain and shrinks to one-fifth of its size when alarmed? Enter the accordion worm. This recently identified marine ribbon worm, colored brown to dark green, measures 110–250 mm long and 3–4 mm wide in its unbothered…

Elk could roam the English countryside for the first time in 3,000 years after funding was approved to explore plans for their eventual reintroduction into the wild.

Insects are all around us—an ant on the sidewalk, a bee buzzing by, a butterfly floating on the breeze—and they shape the world we experience. They pollinate flowering plants, decompose waste, control pests, and are critical links in food chains.

Small fishing boats make up 80% of the 5,600 fishing vessels in Norway. They deliver 11% of the country's total catch of cod, in addition to a significant proportion of crab and other whitefish.

Scientists have found that a mere 30 species of trees in the Cerrado—the world's largest and most floristically diverse savanna—account for nearly half of all its trees.

A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North America historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of fire by Indigenous people to manage…

They are large rafts that drift thousands of kilometers across the ocean surface, moving with the currents in an otherwise featureless marine environment. Tracked by satellites, the rudimentary floats—which may also be outfitted with long, submerged tails of…

An innovative imaging technique developed at Carnegie Mellon University reveals single bacterial cells leaving their biofilm community. Watching the bacteria in real-time at high resolution affords unprecedented views that advance the understanding of how…

The biodiversity of Earth's oceans is disproportionately concentrated in coral reefs—the vibrant undersea ecosystems where thousands of known marine species reside.

Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, and Michigan State University, U.S., have discovered a type of molecule that can kill chlamydia bacteria, but spare bacteria that are important for health. The discovery opens the door for further research toward…

Why do cats generally live longer than dogs? New research suggests that longer lifespans of mammals like cats could be linked to their bigger brains and more complex immune systems.

Scientists have launched an interactive global map to show the migratory patterns of more than 100 marine species in an effort to protect at-risk wildlife.

For centuries, scientists have observed that animals in warmer climates have longer limbs—a pattern known as Allen's Rule. Long attributed to the need to maintain body temperature, the precise mechanism that gave rise to this pattern has remained poorly…

A study published in the journal Cell marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules that can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells.

Roughly 140 million to 100 million years ago, the piece of land that is modern day Australia was located much further south on Earth. In fact, what is now Victoria was once within the polar circle, up to 80 degrees south of the equator and shrouded in darkness…

A battle is underway against an invasive mosquito behind a recent surge in the local spread of dengue fever in Southern California—and officials may have unlocked a powerful tool to help win the day.

Researchers are zeroing in on the Achilles' heel of pathogens that cause Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis.

Analyzing the gene activity of every single bacterial cell in a colony? A new technique from Würzburg can do this much more efficiently than other methods.

The University of Bayreuth's Biomaterials research group has, for the first time, successfully applied the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool to spiders. Following the genetic modification, the spiders produced red fluorescent silk.

Light helps us wake up, keeps us alert, and guides our sleep. But what happens when light becomes erratic? As a researcher studying molecular biology and animal stress responses, I've been fascinated by how environmental changes affect living organisms in…

Nicknamed the "king of the kelp forest," giant sea bass are among scuba divers' favorite characters to spot off the California Coast. But very few of these charismatic fish remain.

Fishing pots fitted with LED lights catch significantly more shrimp and fish, new research shows.

A rare New Zealand snail has been filmed for the first time squeezing an egg from its neck, delighting scientists trying to save the critically endangered meat-eating mollusk.