Archives

September 21, 2026

nature
A few milligrams of enamel became a thermometer for T. rex
Temperature-sensitive bonds in three fossil teeth produced an estimate of 36.3°C, while five crocodilian teeth helped test whether burial had rewritten the signal.
By Moss Wren
nature
Inch-long sand hoppers move 38 kilograms of beach per metre overnight
Researchers weighed fresh burrow mounds, then used hopper biomass to model a much larger—but carefully bounded—single-day estimate.
By Moss Wren

nature
How one giant cell launches—and brakes—a millisecond contraction
Three studies divide Spirostomum’s roughly half-length contraction into a calcium-linked signal, a modeled mechanical response and a proposed internal damping system.
By Moss Wren
nature
On Okinawa, plastic has seeped into the pores of coral rubble
Lab instruments showed that bright specks on dead coral fragments were polyethylene and polypropylene embedded in the skeleton—not loose litter resting on it.
By Moss Wren

nature
When does helping a young chimpanzee become a lesson?
Two remarkable encounters in Senegal show how scientists can identify teaching by its effects without pretending to know exactly what an animal intended.
By Moss Wren
nature
The cat was never missing. Science’s name for it was.
A tiny Bolivian wild cat shows how one familiar-looking animal can conceal an ancient lineage—and why correcting the family tree matters.
By Mica Finch
nature
A carnivorous plant turns microbial wandering into one-way traffic
Genlisea’s underground traps appear to rectify the restless motion of microbes, moving prey and debris uphill without an obvious pump.
By Mica Finch