Biology

Scientists have debunked the belief that using tools is unique to mammals and birds, after documenting tropical fish that smash shellfish against rocks to open and eat the meat, in a fascinating new study published in the journal Coral Reefs on 26 March 2025.

Dr. Juliette Tariel-Adam from the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University led a project tracking tool use in multiple species of wrasses—a colorful reef fish.

The study logs fish deliberately picking up hard-shelled prey like crabs and mollusks, smashing them against hard surfaces like rocks to access the meal inside.

Viruses are everywhere. Some viruses can cause illness in humans, which has led to people often viewing them as threats. But most viruses are harmless to humans. Many viruses target microbes instead of humans. These viruses likely play essential roles in maintaining a healthy balance in ecosystems by preventing overpopulation of their target microbes. Yet, scientists know very little about most viruses and their role in ecosystems.

To answer the question in the title:

Experts say bird feeders are generally safe and aren’t a notable source of spreading bird flu.

But if you also keep backyard chickens, Parr of the American Bird Conservancy recommends taking the bird feeder down to prevent possible transmission to poultry. Birdfeeders and nesting boxes should also be cleaned regularly.

The risk of spread to people from bird feeders “is very, very low,” he said.

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Food inspectors and disease-sniffing dog handlers remain out of work as food spoils.

It's well understood that spiders have poor eyesight and thus sense the vibrations in their webs whenever prey (like a fly) gets caught; the web serves as an extension of their sensory system. But spiders also exhibit less-understood behaviors to locate struggling prey. Most notably, they take on a crouching position, sometimes moving up and down to shake the web or plucking at the web by pulling in with one leg. The crouching seems to be triggered when prey is stationary and stops when the prey starts moving.

But it can be difficult to study the underlying mechanisms of this behavior because there are so many variables at play when observing live spiders. To simplify matters, researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Terradynamics Laboratory are building crouching spider robots and testing them on synthetic webs. The results provide evidence for the hypothesis that spiders crouch to sense differences in web frequencies to locate prey that isn't moving—something analogous to echolocation. The researchers presented their initial findings today at the American Physical Society's Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, California.

Tiny lab mice just got a mammoth-sized upgrade — genetic tweaks have given them thick, woolly fur, bringing science one step closer to reviving traits of extinct species.

The brain plays a vital role in controlling reproductive functions. It helps to maintain a delicate balance of hormones, all of which can be affected by the metabolism. Investigating the impact of the metabolism on reproductive development and function is critical to a better understanding of health and diseases. Professor Carol Fuzeti Elias and Dr Cristina Sáenz de Miera Patín from the University of Michigan in the USA, carry out groundbreaking research in neuroscience, exploring the molecular and neural mechanisms at play.

Alternate source: https://www.404media.co/the-dude-whose-brain-turned-to-glass

Author: Louise Archer | Postdoctoral Fellow, Biological Sciences, University of Toronto

Despite being the largest land carnivore and a top Arctic predator that can weigh over 600 kg, polar bears start off surprisingly small. Blind, almost hairless, and weighing just 600g at birth, cubs are born in maternity dens under the snow. These snow caves keep newborns warm and safe for the first few months of their life, when they grow rapidly by nursing on their mother’s rich milk.

After three to four months in the den, cubs will have grown to about 20 times their birth weight and will be large enough and furry enough to follow their mothers out into the frigid Arctic spring.

In a study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management, we used remote cameras to study polar bear families as they emerged from their dens in Svalbard, Norway, gaining insight into the behaviour of mothers and cubs as they experience the world outside the den for the first time.