Biology

A humpback whale has smashed the known migration record for its species, traveling more than 14,000 kilometers between breeding grounds in Australia and Brazil — an epic journey that scientists didn’t think was possible. The discovery came from photographing whale flukes (tail fins) and matching them across hemispheres. Two whales were identified in both the […]

For decades, scientists believed ancient humans avoided dense rainforests — too dangerous, too dark, too hard to survive. A groundbreaking discovery in West Africa has just blown that theory apart. Researchers uncovered evidence that early humans were living in a tropical rainforest in present-day Côte d’Ivoire 150,000 years ago — twice as old as any

With fewer than 150 individuals left in the wild, Gilbert’s potoroo is one of the rarest marsupials on Earth. Now, scientists are turning to an unusual source of DNA — poop — to save it from extinction. Gilbert’s potoroo was thought extinct until 1994 when a tiny population was found in Western Australia. Since then,

In a stunning experiment, scientists transferred a longevity gene from naked mole rats into mice — and the mice lived longer and healthier. Naked mole rats are nature’s oddballs. They can live up to 30 years — ten times longer than ordinary mice — and they almost never get cancer. For decades, researchers at the

Tiny particles released by your gut may be driving chronic inflammation as you age. The surprising twist? Gut particles from young animals appear to reverse the damage. A team of researchers has discovered that microscopic particles shed by the gut lining — essentially cellular debris — travel through the bloodstream and trigger inflammation throughout the

Axolotls do it. Zebrafish do it. Why can’t we? Scientists studying nature’s master regenerators have uncovered a shared set of genes that may one day allow humans to regrow lost limbs. The axolotl, a Mexican salamander, can regenerate entire limbs, parts of its spinal cord, heart tissue, and even portions of its brain — all