Cacti spines, snake fangs, snail love darts – oh my! How function drives the evolution of nature’s puncture tools

The Surprising Evolutionary Trade-offs Between Fangs, Stingers, and Claws

The science behind nature’s different puncture tools The post The Surprising Evolutionary Trade-offs Between Fangs, Stingers, and Claws appeared first on Nautilus.

Island life changed how Brazil’s Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard’s strategy might be failing in a rapidly evolving world

The Noronha skink arrived on the island millions of years ago from Africa, likely on floating masses of vegetation carried by ocean currents.

STING protein: our study found new ways for the body to activate – and possibly control – inflammation

Understanding inflammation is one of the biggest challenges of modern medicine.

Was This Fossil Creature the First Right-Hander Ever?

A half a billion years ago, this organism preferred to bend to the right The post Was This Fossil Creature the First Right-Hander Ever? appeared first on Nautilus.

The tiny cell that broke a big rule of biology

The extraordinary life and quiet death of the world's largest iceberg

Forty years after breaking away from Antarctica, the frozen colossus known as A23a died as it lived: drifting around the bottom of the globe, fascinating ardent observers, and offering scientists critical new insights about our living ocean.