Author archives: César Tomé

Unique shrub provides insights into flowering plants’ evolution The genome of the shrub Amborella trichopoda has provided researchers with clues about how flowering plants have evolved, according to a study published in Science. The shrub is known to grow natively on the island of Grande Terre in the South Pacific and nowhere else, and is […]

Crocodiles, alligators use lures to attract prey Alligators and crocodiles use lures to entice prey, the first reported use of tools by reptiles. Researchers surveyed alligators and crocodiles at four sites in Louisiana for a year, noting that the creatures balancing twigs and sticks on their snouts to lure birds during nesting seasons. “Use of […]

Hummingbird species evolved to live in oxygen-thin Andes Some species of hummingbirds, which need lots of oxygen to survive, have evolved to thrive in the oxygen-poor heights of the Andes. Researchers sequenced 63 hummingbird species’ DNA and found that the mutations that allow the Andes birds to breathe at high altitudes occurred at the same […]

Specially shaped snouts help seahorses sneak up on their prey Seahorses have a nose for prey; their unique snouts are shaped to create very little disturbance in the water, allowing them to stealthily pounce on their intended meal, according to a study published in Nature Communications. “The seahorse is one [of] the slowest swimming fish […]

Strawberry poison frogs pass on chemical defense to offspring Strawberry poison frogs provide chemical defenses to their tadpoles by feeding them eggs spiked with alkaloids. Researchers measured alkaloid content in the frogs during different stages of development, separating them into two groups — one in which tadpoles were reared and fed by their mothers and […]

Researchers try to figure out sea worm’s blue glow Researchers are a step closer to figuring out why a common sea worm glows blue on the shallow seafloors it calls home, thanks to a pair of experiments conducted by biologists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. First, they found that the worm, unlike other light-emitting organisms […]

China’s Forbidden City had rocks transported via ice sheets. The massive stones used to build parts of China’s Forbidden City in the 15th century were pulled by several hundred workers more than 40 miles on sledges across artificial ice, researchers say. China had discovered the wheel, but a sign at the Forbidden City hinted that […]

Brains wired to be wary of snakes The brain is wired to detect the threat of snakes, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers studied a pair of macaque monkeys born in captivity who had not encountered snakes before the experiment. When shown an image of a […]

Cassini images add clues to Titan’s weather cycle New photos from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft are giving researchers clues to the weather cycle of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. By studying previous images, scientists think Titan has a hydrologic cycle, in which hydrocarbons rain onto the surface filling the lakes and then evaporating back into the […]

How science goes wrong Scientific research has changed the world. Now it needs to change itself The Economist Astronomers find a “tilted” solar system Scientists have discovered a “tilted” solar system, according to a report in Science. While looking at Kepler-56, a star about 2,800 light-years away, they were surprised to find that the plane […]