EurekAlert! News by Subject: Biology - News by Subject: Biology

Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Dec-2025 02:11 ET (14-Dec-2025 07:11 GMT/UTC)

Cockatoos perform 30 distinct dance moves and may combine them in unique ways

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Captive cockatoos have at least 30 different dance moves in their repertoire, including headbanging and body rolls, according to a study by Natasha Lubke at Charles Sturt University in Australia, and colleagues, publishing August 6, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One. The moves, of which 17 are newly identified, may be performed with or without music.

Journal: PLOS One

Centuries after discovery, red blood cells still hold surprises

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that red blood cells, not just platelets, actively contribute to the contraction of blood clots. This finding challenges long-standing assumptions about clot biology and could lead to new ways of diagnosing and treating clotting disorders, strokes and conditions like thrombocytopenia, where platelet counts are dangerously low.

Journal: Blood Advances
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association

Early heartbeats direct the heart’s own development and growth

The Francis Crick Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered that the heart’s own contractions trigger biological signals that guide the formation of a functional beating heart. Their study in zebrafish highlights the heart’s ability to remodel and adapt to physiological demands and could also reveal what goes wrong during congenital heart conditions.

Journal: Developmental Cell

Changes to El Niño occurrence causing widespread tropical insect and spider declines

Griffith University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Study finds changes to El Niño are linked to significant biodiversity loss in multiple types of tropical forest arthropod, including butterflies, beetles and spiders.

Journal: Nature

Disarming a hidden killer: Predicting – and preventing – C. diff before it strikes

Institute for Systems Biology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology have developed personalized computational models that predict whether Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) can colonize a person’s gut – and how tailored probiotics could stop it. The study, published in Cell Systems, marks a step toward precision microbiome therapies that proactively prevent life-threatening infections before they start.

Journal: Cell Systems

Getting sticky: The highest-performing underwater adhesive hydrogel polymer

Hokkaido University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Inspired by biology, researchers have achieved the highest performing underwater adhesive hydrogel technology to date through a data mining and machine learning approach.

Journal: Nature

MBARI researchers deploy new imaging system to study the movement of deep-sea octopus

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MBARI’s innovative EyeRIS camera system collects near real-time three-dimensional visual data about the structure and biomechanics of marine life. Filming deep-sea pearl octopus (Muusoctopus robustus) with this system has provided new insight into octopus locomotion that can contribute to the design of bioinspired robots in the future.

Journal: Nature
Funder: David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation