Bio-

Internet of Things tackles global animal poaching

The Zoological Society of London is collaborating with a non-profit to develop a sensor and satellite network.<p>15 Sep 2017<p>Download as PDF<p>ZSL …

Nature.com

Genetics<p>How sea creatures change their colour<p>Protean creatures owe their skills to a bacterial gene.<p>Cephalopods such as octopuses, cuttlefish and …

Foraging by Starlight

bioGraphic<p>It's no accident that the opportunistic wild boar has become one of the most widely distributed mammals on the …

Whale Carcasses Become Hotspots for Ocean Life

In winter 2010, Adrian Glover, a marine biologist from the Natural History Museum in London, got a call from a colleague with some good news. While …

Combing the deep

Walk along a beach or pier in summer or fall and, if you're lucky, you may spot a comb jelly or two in the shallows. The luminescent drifters are …

Conserve elephants. They hold a scientific mirror up to humans

THE symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature is a giant panda. The panda’s black-and-white pelage certainly makes for a striking logo. But, though …

Drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic is inviting disaster

Here’s a terrifying thought experiment: imagine an oil disaster like Deepwater Horizon. Same scenario—hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil gushing …

Study: Seismic blasting in Gulf of Mexico hurts dolphins, whales

For the past six months, a battle has raged over a proposal to allow oil and gas companies to perform seismic testing to search for deposits of …

Insects can see the world in much finer resolution than previously thought

Insects have much better vision and can see in far greater detail than previously thought, a new study from the University of Sheffield has …

Swarms of Octopus Are Taking Over the Oceans

Something strange is happening to the oceans. As coral reefs wither and fisheries collapse, octopuses are multiplying like mad. As soon as they …

The Deep Seas Are Alive With Light

Bioluminescence is not rare, scientists have learned. It is so common in the oceans that it ranks as one of the planet’s dominant traits.

Weird and wonderful deep-sea worms

Watch: Short Film ‘Canuck & I’ Explores the Bond Between A Crow and His Human

It's been a big few months for Canuck, Vancouver's beloved resident crow. In addition to getting a summer job at a local fair, the mischievous corvid …

The algae that terraformed Earth

<b>A planetary takeover by ocean-dwelling algae 650 million years ago was the kick that transformed life on Earth.</b><p>That's what geochemists argue in Nature this week, on the basis of invisibly small traces of biomolecules dug up from beneath the Australian desert.<p>The molecules mark an explosion in the …

There's a way to save hedgehogs – and all of us can help

By taking part in projects such as counting hedgehog homes, ordinary people enable scientists to understand and protect Britain’s much-loved wildlife<p>Today sees the launch of the “hedgehog housing census”. All over the country, thousands of people are going to the trouble and expense of building or …

Some Tuna Can Carry Up To 36 Times The Toxic Chemicals Of Others. Here's Why

A new study may prompt hand wringing among you tuna poke and sushi lovers. When it comes to pollutant levels, researchers now say where your tuna was caught matters.<p>In a first-of-its-kind global study, scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego …

Larvaceans provide a pathway for transporting microplastics into deep-sea food webs

August 16, 2017<p>A giant larvacean (the blue, tadpole-like animal) beats its tail to pump water and microplastic beads (red dots) through its inner …

Pledge to help elephants break free from cruelty

More than <b>3,000 elephants</b> are in captivity for tourism in Asia, and most live in unacceptable conditions. Day in, day out, they're cruelly forced to …

How You Can Help Save The Asian Elephants Mistreated For Tourism And On The Brink Of Extinction

<b>The lesser-known plight of endangered Asian elephants</b><p>Unless you live under a rock you'll know about the plight of African elephants, which are falling victim to the ivory trade at an alarming rate. An elephant roaming free on the African savannah suffers the moment a poacher shoots and needlessly …

The ivory trade isn’t just a disaster for elephants. It threatens our future too

Elephants prop up the forest and savannah ecosystems we need to store carbon. To stabilise the climate, we must stop their slaughter by ivory poachers<p>Today is World Elephant Day, when people with a passion for pachyderms come together to celebrate the wonder of elephants and raise funds to protect …

Lion Recovery Fund

If Africa’s parks and reserves were resourced and managed effectively and the communities around them supported, we could have three to four times …

It’s Better to Swim Alone, Yet Together, if You’re a Salp

What mysterious, gelatinous, clear blob that you might find washed up on a beach looks like a jellyfish but isn’t? Meet the sea salp. It typically lives in deep waters, where its barrel-shaped body glides around the ocean by jet propulsion, sucking in water from a siphon on one end and spitting it …

The science behind how and why fireflies light up

Fireflies are a trademark of summer. We're all familiar with their glowing tails, but how do they produce that glow and why do they glow? It turns out, fireflies have a specific organ in its abdomen that helps it glow.

Parasitic plants dwell in darkness, feeding on mold and mushrooms

They have great taste.<p>You might be under the impression that plants photosynthesize—using energy from the sun to turn carbon dioxide and water into delicious and nutritious sugar—and you're <i>mostly</i> right. Even carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap practice this process to some extent (though …

Dozens of Laotian elephants 'illegally sold to Chinese zoos'

Laos accused of breaching Cites treaty to protect endangered species and China of encouraging trade in live animals<p>Dozens of elephants from Laos are being illegally bought by China to be displayed in zoos and safari parks across the country, according to wildlife investigator and film-maker Karl …

‘Ecological intensification’ swaps pesticides for biodiversity

Intensive agriculture aims to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost possible. It’s a resource-heavy practice and can cause biodiversity loss, …

World's large carnivores being pushed off the map

<b>Six of the world's large carnivores have lost more than 90% of their historic range, according to a study.</b><p>The Ethiopian wolf, red wolf, tiger, lion, African wild dog and cheetah have all been squeezed out as land is lost to human settlements and farming.<p>Reintroduction of carnivores into areas where …

Bug’s Life: the demise of insects

It’s not just the bees that are disappearing. Insects across the board are showing dramatic drops in population levels, leading to a serious knock-on …

Tell Congress: Protect Ocean Life from Dangerous Seismic Airgun Blasting

<b>BREAKING NEWS: Trump administration gets one step closer to approving seismic airgun blasting off East Coast, putting thousands of marine mammals at</b> …