Plastics shed thousands of chemicals into the sea, including oleamide – an industrial lubricant that also occurs naturally. In lab aquariums, researchers tracked 31,500 hunting interactions between the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) and crabs, snails, and clams. Oleamide shifted octopus prey preference, dulled crustaceans’ predator avoidance, and increased encounters – without boosting successful kills. The subtle disruption lasted days, hinting that plastic chemicals could reshape coastal food webs by altering how species sense, feed, and interact. By mimicking biological signals, plastic-derived oleamide may quietly rewire marine behavior.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can significantly affect animals by changing their physiology, behavior, and geographic distribution. However, how ALAN influences ecological and genetic patterns in closely related species remains unexplored. A new study investigated how ALAN shapes differences between two isopod species in Tokyo Bay, revealing clear ecological separation between the species based on patterns of nighttime urban lighting. The findings highlight how urban factors can be adjusted to support biodiversity.

Africa’s largest monkey, the mandrill, Mandrillus sphinx, is being forced out of its home within a national park due to hunting pressure, new research has revealed.

From dragonflies to starfish, new research shows that the speed of visual perception across the animal kingdom is driven by lifestyle and environment.

Animals don’t just see the world differently from one another, they experience time itself at dramatically different speeds. That is according to a new study that considered 237 species across the animal kingdom, and which revealed that how fast an animal lives and moves strongly predicts how quickly it can visually process the world around it.

In research published in leading international journal Nature – Ecology & Evolution, scientists from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Galway show that species with fast-paced ecologies, such as flying animals and “pursuit predators”, which chase fast, manoeuvrable prey, have much faster visual perception than slow-moving or sedentary species. 

An international research team has used ancient DNA to uncover a 7,700-year-old "north-south corridor" connecting Siberia's Lake Baikal region with northern China. By analyzing 42 ancient genomes, the study, published in Science Bulletin, challenges the view that major trans-Eurasian contact only began in the Bronze Age. The findings link Early Neolithic groups genetically (via Ancient Paleo-Siberian ancestry) and archaeologically (via similar pottery and burial posture).

When we learn a new motor skill—whether mastering a piano passage or refining balance while walking—the brain must reorganize the circuits that control movement. For decades, this process of synaptic remodeling has been attributed primarily to neurons strengthening or weakening their connections. However, the new study reveals that another cell type in the brain called astrocytes actively participates in this rewiring process.

A research team led by CHUNG Won-Suk (KAIST Department of Biological Sciences), Associate Director of the Center for Vascular Research within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), and Professor KIM Jae-Ick at UNIST has demonstrated that astrocytes actively eliminate synapses in the striatum, a brain region that plays a central role in controlling voluntary movement and learning. This process is regulated by dopamine signaling and neural activity and is critical for proper motor skill acquisition.

From summer evenings to global disease prevention, mosquito repellents are a daily defense for billions of people, yet until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how mosquitoes themselves perceive these “keep away” signals. A new study has pinpointed an odorant receptor that helps mosquitoes detect a repellent odor and steer away. The researchers found that activating this receptor switches on a dedicated neural pathway that can override the insects’ attraction to human scents, producing clear avoidance behavior. By mapping the molecular and neural mechanism behind this response, the findings point to new strategies for designing more targeted and effective mosquito repellents.

Deep in our cells, a wide range of processes are occurring constantly. These cellular processes rely on enzymes to act as catalysts and set off a series of molecular interactions. There are still many processes within the body that are not fully understood. Discovering exactly how these cellular pathways work can help researchers better understand how some diseases proliferate and develop new treatments that target part of these processes.