Vintage Journal: The plantaris muscle
Is this little-known muscle a true vestigial organ?
Biology
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Should animals be given “human rights?”
Cuttlefish colour changes inspire new energy-efficient TV screen design
Human designers of TV screen copy one of the ways cuttlefish change colour.
The opossum’s tale
The opossum of the Americas confounds ‘just-so’ stories to explain Australia’s
weird mammals.
Germ with seven motors in one!
Marine bacterium has seven motors bundled into one, with interlocking fibrils acting
as gears. This germ can swim 10 times faster than most.
Termite mounds: cities in miniature
How are these veritable cities in miniature built?
Great gecko glue?
These wonders in miniature has a super special stick-ability.
Sharks: denizens of the deep
Few creatures alive today incite more fear and awe than these fierce marine predators with their razor-sharp teeth. But not all sharks are harmful to man.
Parrot fashion
Upon seeing parrots’ spectacularly vivid colouring for the first time, some
people think the colours must have been painted on.
The way of the woodpecker
Engineers wonder at the woodpecker’s resilience to head-banging—and copy it.
Surprise, surprise—box jellyfish eyes
The lowly, ‘basal’ box jellyfish has astonished scientists with its capacity to see things above the water.
Dancing bees