True to its name, the spider-tailed horned viper has a fake spider at the end of its tail, which it uses to lure in birds to eat. In this study, scientists took the closest-ever look at this snake's bizarre tail, using X-ray computed tomography. By peering inside the snake's tail, they learned that the bones inside its tail are... strangely normal-- all the weird stuff is on the outside. Which means that for paleontologists studying fossils, there could be a lot of unusual features in prehistoric snakes that no one knows about.

The unexplained results could enhance future efforts to study out-of-body experiences, researchers say.

Brain tumors develop within an organ that changes substantially with age. A new review in Ageing and Cancer Research & Treatment examines evidence that the aging brain microenvironment may influence brain tumor progression, treatment resistance, and cognitive outcomes.

BUFFALO, NY — September 10, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging on August 24, 2026, titled “Disruption of the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans dramatically increases male longevity and enhances reproductive health late in life.”

A study by the Institute for Neurosciences CSIC-UMH reveals that thalamic activity regulates the integration of interneurons in a key region of the visual pathway. The results, obtained in mouse models, show that altering this activity also affects the organization of these cells in the visual cortex.

Researchers have developed an AI-based system that automatically and objectively detects the moment when fish experience loss of equilibrium (LOE) due to temperature stress. The system combines DeepLabCut, a deep-learning AI that captures animal posture from video, with ResNet34, a deep-learning AI-based image-classification technology. Their system is expected to help predict the effects of climate change on fish. The research team was led by Specially Appointed Lecturer Tomoya Nakayama and Yoshiya Matsuo (a master’s student at the time) of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM) at Nagoya University, in collaboration with Associate Professor Tatsuto Hasegawa and Takuya Kato (a master’s student at the time) of the University of Fukui. Their research was published in the journal Scientific Reports on September 10, 2026.

A new UW study shows a nine-fold increase in coyote density in Seattle compared to natural areas of Washington state. Coyotes in urban environments have fewer predators and more prey, which may help explain the national trend.