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Living World

 
An illustration shows strands of RNA used to make drawings of items such as a bicycle, running shoe, hand holding a cigarette and an ice cream cone.
 
Living World

Do you take after your dad’s RNA?

Evidence is growing from rodent studies that sperm carries marks of a father’s life experiences, influencing traits in offspring. Bits of RNA could be the drivers of these epigenetic effects.

By Holly Barker
 
A collage illustrates the wide diversity of snakes that can be found on the surface of the ground, on tree branches, in the water and in holes in the ground.
Living World

Evolution of snakes: Scientists unravel the mysssteries

Huge snakes, tiny snakes, poisonous snakes and constrictor snakes, snakes that slither, burrow or swim: New fossils and modern technology are tracing serpent origins

Three ants carrying cut bits of plants across a log
Living World

The crazy nests built by leaf-cutter ants

Turrets and tunnels and carbon dioxide — oh my! These ants farm, but they are also master builders.

Three glass containers contain three kinds of loose-leaf tea.
Food & Environment

What’s the secret to a great cup of tea?

From where the Camellia sinensis bush is grown to whether the leaves are withered or fermented, much can influence the popular drink’s molecular and flavor profile

Colorful illustration shows RNA molecules of various shapes.
Living World

The silent majority: RNAs that don’t make proteins

Once considered cellular junk, non-coding RNAs are emerging as key players in everything from brain development to cancer — with much still to be discovered

Illustration shows big blue blobs (proteins) to which are attached strings of colored shapes (sugar structures).
Living World

Sweet! The cell’s sugary coating comes into view

Built from thickets of glucose, galactose, mannose and more, the glycome plays key roles in cell communication, immunity and the blood-brain barrier

A curled-up dormouse sleeping in a nest of grass
Living World

The strange animals that control their body heat

Some creatures can dramatically alter their internal temperature — a strategy called heterothermy — and outlast storms, floods and predators

A graphic shows a diverse selection of foods with just one protein source, a single shrimp.
Living World

The curious case of low-protein diets

In the lab, animals live longer on less of the stuff. How could this be, and what does it mean for human aging?

Two yellow-colored bodies on the side of an image send out branches that join in the middle.
Living World

Tales of a very clever slime mold

In its quest to feed, avoid nasty substances and just generally live its life, the brainless, one-celled Physarum polycephalum performs some impressive tricks of learning and memory

Several white foxes sit in rows of small cages on a fur farm.
Health & Disease

Why disease outbreaks on Chinese fur farms are a serious risk to public health

Farming animals for fur is not only cruel but also provides an ideal environment for viruses to mix and cross over into humans

Cartoon microbes on a winner’s podium are surrounded by others participating in various winter sports.
Living World

Microbial Olympics: Super-duper one-celled athletes

They race, they leap, they spin, they shoot. Meet the organisms for whom physical prowess is more than sport — it’s a matter of life and death.

Eight horses of identical appearance, lined up side by side.
Technology

Field of clones: How horse replicas came to dominate polo

In Argentina, equine cloning in polo is no longer a rarity. It’s now a mature industry — although ethical dilemmas surrounding it persist.

Photograph shows a close-up of an Aedes aegypti mosquito perched on a leaf.
Health & Disease

Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito

Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses

Fanciful drawing of scientific-looking apparatus, highlighting a variety of research that made the news this year.
Society

Top science stories of 2025

In a year of funding chaos, ongoing climate change and pollution perils, we also saw the most powerful telescope yet, personalized gene therapy, and the next-best-thing to an HIV vaccine — not to mention a brand-new color

Collage of the back of a woman’s head, molecular structures, names of compounds in hair products, a flower and leaf.
Food & Environment

The science of green hair care

A push to move away from petroleum products — plus the perception that natural is gentler — has scientists lathering up new ingredients, from wood and fungus extracts to engineered proteins

Illustration shows multiple sperm cells swimming into the cloud of sticky cells that surround the egg before fertilization.
Living World

Journey to the egg: How sperm navigate the path to fertilization

COMIC: Male cells must survive twisty passages, strong currents and immune attacks; millions enter, but only one can finish

Collage shows chemical structure of amino acids surrounding an image of various animals — including pandas, sheep, cows and an insect.
Food & Environment

How plant-eaters snag their essential amino acids

Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impressive array of tricks to ensure their dietary needs are met.

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