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Humanity's direct ancestor gets a new name. Meet Homo Bodoensis

Nothing actually new under the sun, but the new designation aims to clear a lot of confusion surrounding the human family tree.

Capuchin monkeys are 3,000 years into their own Stone Age

In a remote area of Brazil, capuchin monkeys have been adapting their own stone tools for thousands of years.

Scientists find universal law of nature that may govern all living things

Sensory adaptation follows the same response curve across all organisms, scientists have proposed in a new study.

Amazing 100-million-year-old crab found perfectly preserved in amber

The pristine fossil fills huge gaps in the fossil record, explaining how early crabs left the ocean for land.

Dog-sized scorpion was king of the sea 440 million years ago

It had barbed limbs, a poisonous tail, and measured about a meter in length.

Pain impairs our ability to feel pleasure -- and now we know why and how

Sensations of pain shut down the neurons that allow us to feel pleasure.

Rare tardigrade fossil discovered in 16-million-year-old amber

They seem like squishy bears but are actually very tough

Do women feel cold more than men in order to create space between the sexes?

Female bats and birds tend to prefer warmer geographical areas, away from males. Something similar may occur in humans.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria could make farming possible even in Martian soils

To boldly sow where no man has sown before.

Machine learning could help predict the next pandemic-inducing virus

One pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The gene that gives tabby cats their adorable stripes

Cheetahs and tigers too, most likely.

What makes ant teeth so super strong and sharp

Evenly spaced zinc atoms allows the ant's mandible to pack a powerful punch.

The family of hand-standing skunks just got bigger

There's more to these adorable acrobats than meets the eye.

This is how tardigrades walk -- and it's cooler than you think

They walk a bit like insects... but why do they even walk at all?

What's the evolutionary explanation for homosexuality? Ironically, genes that help people make more babies may be involved

The same gene variants that may give people a reproductive edge with the opposite sex are associated with same-sex behavior.

Purple bacteria turn sewage into hydrogen fuel

Purple is the new black.

Rattlesnakes modulate their tail wagging to make you think they're closer than they are

Actually, I'm not mad at all. Thank you, snakebros.

Ancient turtle embryo preserved inside thick, tough egg

Turtle eggs are usually small and fragile -- but this one was big and tough.

Highly venomous sea snakes may be attacking scuba divers as a mating behavior

Olive sea snakes may charge at human divers because they mistake them for rival males or potential mates.

Falcons use 'natural makeup' to improve their hunting success

The species' dark 'eyeliner' acts as a sun shield to improve the birds' hunting ability, a new study suggests.

Our eyes have a focal point -- but images don't seem to focus on it, weirdly

This, unexpectedly, makes our vision a bit better.

Not so picky and coy after all: Female animals also have mating contests. They're just more subtle than males

The effect of sexual selection on females has been largely ignored in favor of the more pronounced and obvious effect on males.

The oldest animal life on Earth was discovered in Canada: 890 million years old

That's a lot of "million years ago".

We might have discovered the oldest animal fossils yet in the Canadian Northwest

Now we need to confirm that these were indeed sea sponges.

Adorable mountain creature eats yak poop to get through the winter

This "real-life" Pikachu isn't afraid to get dirty to make it.

Bands of chimps attacked and killed gorillas. It's the first time we've witnessed anything like this

Chimps formed coalitions and attacked gorilla families close to their territory, killing two gorilla infants in the process.

Sharks have spiral-like intestines that resemble one of Nikola Tesla's inventions

This complex structure may explain how sharks can go weeks without a meal.

No brain? No problem! This mold makes navigation decisions in thinking-like process

What does "thinking" even mean anymore?

Scientists discover algae with three sexes

The research could help scientists understand how different sexes evolved in the first place.

Puppies understand human gestures from an early age with no training unlike wolf pups

Dogs and humans have formed a special bond after more than 14,000 years of co-evolving together.

How the cauliflower got its mesmerizing fractals

The cauliflower really wants to grow flowers but just ends up with more buds growing out of its buds that grew out of other buds…

Fossil Friday: the oldest kind-of-bat species seen so far, described from set of teeth found in China

The history of bats is surprisingly mysterious. These teeth keep that tradition.

Several city- and state-sized asteroids impacted young Earth. Probably.

It's been so long since then that direct evidence simply isn't around any more.

Dragonflies drop their bling when it gets too hot -- and climate change spells trouble

The wing bling could be making male dragonflies too hot for their own good.

Europe's woodlands want to shift north -- but birds are carrying them soutwards

Sometimes the plan is all set but logistics don't help you.

STEM cells could lead the way towards an effective cure against HIV/AIDS

Fighting the virus is just half the battle. The other half is repairing the damage.

Willow trees could help clean wastewater and produce drugs, fuel in the process

Waste not, want not?

In two British woodlands, half of the trees were planted by jays

The birds helped regenerate two fields previously used for agriculture.

When South African bees reproduce asexually, they make near-perfect clones of themselves

Why even bother with sexual reproduction?

How art restorers in Italy used bacteria to clean up pesky grime on Michelangelo sculptures

You could say these masterpieces were brought to life.

Clever crows can grasp the concept of 'zero'

Bird sized but not ‘bird-brained’.

Plastic-eating bacteria turns waste into vanilla flavoring

A tasty solution to our plastic waste problem.

Looking 'weird' saves robot lizards from predators

Sometimes being flashy is actually a turn-off to predators. Their loss…

One-way camel trade is keeping another coronavirus at bay, but it could still spark the next pandemic

That’s not a headline I expected to be writing today.

Trained bacteriophages could help us with our drug resistance issues

If you can't beat them -- hire mercenaries.

Puppies are likely born with the ability to communicate with humans

Eight-week-old puppies can understand instructions from humans, such as finger pointing and gazing towards an object.

Frogs lost their teeth more than 20 times in their evolutionary history

They just couldn't seem to make up their mind.

Table corals have an important role to play in reef recovery, but they're also quite vulnerable

Helping to protect them would go a long way.

We're inching closer to a better sunscreen that won't kill corals (unlike our current options)

Work on that summer bod, but be sure to protect it from the sun as well!

Different cities have their own microbial fingerprint, a global study reports

"If you gave me your shoe, I could tell you with about 90% accuracy the city you came from," the authors boast.

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