Ant's foot showing a fluid trail

How the stick insect sticks (and unsticks) itself

07 October 2015

New research shows the fluid found on insects鈥 feet does not help them adhere to vertical and inverted surfaces, as previously thought, but may in fact help them to unstick their feet more easily to allow greater control over their sticking power.

Read More
Zebras, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Predators might not be dazzled by stripes

12 August 2015

New research using computer games suggests that stripes might not offer the 鈥榤otion dazzle鈥 protection thought to have evolved in animals such as Zebra and consequently inspired ship camouflage during both World Wars.聽聽聽聽

Read More
Mother and child

On the origin of (robot) species

12 August 2015

Researchers have observed the process of evolution by natural selection at work in robots, by constructing a 鈥榤other鈥 robot that can design, build and test its own 鈥榗hildren鈥, and then use the results to improve the performance of the next generation, without relying on computer simulation or human intervention.聽

Read More
Comparison of embryos of fish, salamander, turtle, chick, pig, cow, rabbit and human embryos at three different stages of development.

Haeckel鈥檚 embryos: the images that would not go away

06 July 2015

A new book tells, for the first time in full, the extraordinary story of drawings of embryos initially published in 1868. 探花直播artist was accused of fraud 鈥 but, copied and recopied,聽his images gained iconic status as evidence of evolution.

Read More
 探花直播camera eye of an octopus is structurally similar to that of a human, but has evolved independently, making it a classic example of convergent evolution.

鈥淢ap Of Life鈥 predicts ET. (So where is he?)

02 July 2015

探花直播author of a new study of evolutionary convergence argues that the development of life on Earth is predictable, meaning that similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now.

Read More

Pages