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Biology

Participants in Germany liked the Eurasian blackbird's call the most out of a list of vocalizations made by more than 100 birds.

Some Birdsongs Are More Pleasing to Human Ears Than Others. Higher-Pitched, Complex Calls Tend to Sound More Beautiful to Us

In a new study, more than 80 participants rated the pleasantness of vocalizations made by 123 European bird species. Researchers then looked at the acoustic qualities of the most—and least—liked songs

Bubbles singled out individual bigeye trevally fish, then harassed them into puking up their most recent meal.

Meet Bubbles, a Dolphin in Australia Who Chases Fish Until They Barf—Then Eats Their Upchucked Meals

Scientists recorded 11 instances of Bubbles successfully snacking this way. They mark some of the first detailed observations of kleptoparasitism, or food stealing, in cetaceans, the group of marine mammals that includes dolphins, whales and porpoises

Using their new knowledge, the researchers became the first to successfully coax human stem cells into becoming hindbrain motor nerve cells.

Scientists Say the Human Brain Might Be Made of Two Distinct Nervous Systems That Got Squished Together

Two separate types of progenitor cells give rise to the front and back of the organ, according to a new study. The findings can help researchers study human diseases that affect the hindbrain, since its nerve cells have previously been difficult—if not impossible—to make in the lab

In one observation, a juvenile male appears to teach an infant named Fotti how to crack open a baobab fruit.

Cameras Capture Adult Chimpanzees Passing Tools—and Know-How—to Their Young, Teaching Important Skills to the Next Generation

Researchers recorded footage of wild chimps in Senegal showing youngsters how to use sticks to fish out ants and how to smash baobab fruit against rocks to open it, among other instances of instruction

Researchers looked at changes in the volume of gray matter, which is made mostly of nerve cell bodies and located in the brain's wrinkly outer layer.

The Brain Shrinks as We Age and During Major Transitions. But Surprisingly, It Seems to Take a Break From Rewiring During Menopause

Puberty, pregnancy and menopause are the three major hormonal transitions for the female brain. Researchers already knew that during the first two, the organ fine-tunes itself in response to hormonal shifts, but they haven’t been sure about the third

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer, first encountered the new species at the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia.

Meet the Adorable and Tiny Tilcayo, the First Brand-New Cat Species Identified in More Than a Century

Discovered in a cloud forest in Bolivia, the diminutive felines are smaller than a house cat and covered in large, irregularly shaped rosettes

How humpback whales respond to death is one of the least understood aspects of their behavior, according to researchers.

A Humpback Whale Mom Stayed With Her Stillborn Calf, Repeatedly Touching It and Staring Into Its Eyes. Was She Grieving?

Observed last year off the coast of Queensland, Australia, this event marks the first documentation of a stillbirth in the species, providing a rare glimpse at how the highly social animals respond to death

A side view of a "xenocortical" mouse brain, with the grafted human tissue seen in green and red.

Scientists Created Mice With Half-Human Brains. The Hybrid Animals Could Revolutionize Our Understanding of Neurological Disorders

Our brains and their associated diseases are notoriously hard to study. So researchers developed an animal model with a cortex—the brain’s outer layer—grown from human-derived cells

Wiring diagram of an adult male fruit fly's central nervous system

This New Brain Map Shows Every Nerve Cell in an Adult Male Fruit Fly’s Central Nervous System. Here’s Why That Matters

The recently released “connectome” joins a previously completed map of an adult female fruit fly’s brain. The digital 3D diagrams allow scientists to trace precise neural paths in the bugs’ brains, which can unlock secrets about the organ in humans

Lake sturgeon—massive and long-living fish in the Great Lakes—may survive to much older ages than scientists previously thought, according to a recent study. Here, a juvenile lake sturgeon is captured during a fisheries assessment in the St. Clair-Detroit River System.

Some Fish in the Great Lakes Might Be More Than 400 Years Old, a Study Suggests, Outliving Around 15 Generations of Humans

Lake sturgeon may be among the longest-living vertebrates, second only to Greenland sharks, according to recent research. However, scientists note that follow-up work is necessary to clarify the species’ lifespan

Two yellow-bellied marmots ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Two Chonky, Mountain-Dwelling Marmots Were Found in the Bay Area. What Were They Doing So Far Away From Their Home?

The two rodents of unusual size, rescued this month, might have hitched a ride in the engine compartment of a vehicle coming down from the mountains, wildlife officials say

Lead author Vera Weisbecker poses with a thylacine snout, alongside models of wolf, fox and crocodile upper jaws. 

The Tasmanian Tiger Was Branded a Livestock Killer. New Research Challenges That Myth

Thylacines had powerful snapping bites suited for catching small and medium-sized prey like bandicoots—not taking down large animals such as sheep and cattle, as European colonists feared

Elongated scales form leg-like structures at the tip of the spider-tailed horned viper's tail, creating a decoy arachnid that the predator can use to attract birds.

The Tip of This Snake’s Tail Looks Like a Spider. But Inside, Its Bones Are ‘Bizarrely Normal’

High-tech scans reveal the first detailed look at the internal anatomy of the spider-tailed horned viper. The findings shed light on little-known snake vertebrae and highlight the difficulty of predicting what an animal looks like from its skeleton

GLP-1 drugs, medications that are self-injected to support weight loss and lower blood sugar, helped peptides become mainstream.

Peptides Are All the Rage, Promising Miracle Cures and Makeovers Delivered by Injection. How Did We Get Here?

Experts say the peptide craze is part of a broader phenomenon, as patients look beyond the regulated health system to address problems that doctors have struggled to treat

This year's Ig Nobel Award ceremony took place in Zurich, Switzerland.

Stealing Candy From Children, Splash-Proof Urinals and Buried Panties, Oh My! Here Are the Winners of the 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes

The awards are an unaffiliated spoof of the Nobel Prizes. They highlight research achievements that are surprising and silly-sounding—but also make people think

Since calorie restriction is known to slow aging, researchers wanted to know if GLP-1s—which curb appetite—could do the same.

GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Can Slow Aging and Extend Life Span, Mouse Study Suggests

Older female mice—equivalent in age to 60-year-old women—given daily injections of the active ingredient in Ozempic lived about 12 percent longer than animals that didn’t receive the drug

In loud conditions, a tokay gecko adjusts its call, which is typically used to find a mate or defend territory.

Reptiles Make a Surprising Amount of Noise. Here’s What Those Sounds Might Mean, From Pops to Hoots to Bellows

Scientists are realizing that turtles, lizards and crocodilians communicate vocally more than they once thought

Alfie and Bailey, the first dogs whose genes were edited so they lack the allergy-inducing protein Can f 1.

Allergic to Dogs? These Gene-Edited Beagles Could Pave the Way to Your Dream Canine Companion That Won’t Trigger Sniffles

Geneticists altered Alfie and Bailey’s DNA so that they don’t produce a major allergen. However, canines like them are not currently commercially available, and some experts express ethical concerns about altering the animals’ genes

An artist's interpretation of what Chosha praecursor might have looked like while splitting its time between water and land 324 million years ago in what is now Texas.

This Ancient Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land

A previously undescribed critter that lived 324 million years ago appears to have been a transitional species that lived between land and sea. It could help researchers fill an 80-million-year gap in the fossil record of how crustaceans evolved into insects

A male Cope's gray treefrog is smaller than a female and attaches to her back as she looks for a spot to lay eggs.

Female Treefrogs Experience ‘Choice Overload’ Amid Too Many Mating Calls From Males

Faced with a chorus of potential mates, female Cope’s gray treefrogs may be overwhelmed by the number of options and struggle to make a careful decision, a study suggests

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