Biology Popular Science

Since ancient times, the Dragon Boat Festival has been an important part of Chinese culture. In traditional belief, this was the day when the "Five Poisons" were most active, and people took various measures to drive away these dangerous creatures. The Five Poisons include animals familiar to almost everyone: snakes, geckos, scorpions, centipedes, and toads. This article introduces one member of this notorious group—the toad—and explores the nature of its toxins. Figure 1. Th

When people think of microrobots, what usually comes to mind? Perhaps the swarming magnetic robots in the movie Big Hero 6 , or the nanomachines portrayed in science-fiction films. In most cases, these imagined machines are composed of inorganic components—cold, precisely engineered mechanical devices. However, a concept proposed by Kenichi Iwasaki and colleagues in the Rayshubskiy laboratory at Harvard University suggests a very different vision. Instead of manufacturing tin

When people think of animals that embody strong family bonds, mammals and birds usually come to mind first. Kangaroos in Australia, the cats and dogs that share our homes, and many familiar birds are often celebrated for their parental devotion. Yet few people realize that among amphibians there are also species whose lives are deeply shaped by parental care. The salamanders introduced here belong to one such group—animals whose reproductive behavior reveals an extraordinary

Do you like mochi? Rodrigo certainly does—especially during this season, when a limited-edition strawberry daifuku appears. The chewy texture paired with the sweet-and-tart flavor of strawberries is simply irresistible. Today, Rodrigo is going to introduce a special winter "Arctic daifuku." Wait—this is The Sound of Evolution , a place that talks about biological evolution. Why suddenly introduce desserts? Don't worry. This "daifuku" is not actually a sweet. But their appeara

As the Year of the Dragon came to an end in 2024, a new lunar year approached. The year 2025 corresponds to the Year of the Snake, making it a fitting time to introduce a remarkable serpent whose appearance resembles a tiny dragon — the tentacled snake. The tentacled snake ( Erpeton tentaculatum ) is a viviparous aquatic snake native to the Indochinese region of Southeast Asia. It belongs to the family Homalopsidae and the genus Erpeton , and is related to species such as the

How will you spend February 14? With a partner, or enjoying the golden freedom of being single? As a bachelor, I naturally belong to the latter group. Even if I am not celebrating Valentine's Day with a partner, it does not prevent me from introducing a rather remarkable herb. According to tradition, this plant has played many roles at once: a vampire-like parasite, a love potion, a wound remedy, and even a life-saving emergency food. The plant is known as Cynomorium coccineu

Last year I introduced the ringed seal ( Pusa hispida ). This time, let us meet its close relative — the dark, caramel-colored "black pearl" of Lake Baikal: the Baikal seal. Its scientific name is Pusa sibirica , meaning "the small-headed seal of Siberia." The species lives primarily in Lake Baikal within Russia. It is the smallest seal in the world and one of the very few seals adapted to freshwater. It is also among the longest-lived seals, with an average lifespan of about

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products have been widely detected in surface waters and in fish tissues. A major source of these contaminants is the effluent discharged from urban wastewater treatment plants. Although laboratory experiments have previously examined the toxicity of pharmaceutical pollution in aquatic environments, most of those studies relied on artificially contaminating aquaria to observe fish responses. In contrast, far fewer investigations have examined

Somewhere on the seafloor of the Atlantic, a pair of feather-like tentacles slowly extends from a tube, quietly filtering the gifts carried by ocean currents. The creature behind those delicate tentacles is Rhabdopleura , a minute marine invertebrate. These animals possess a hard calcareous tube and a crown of feathery tentacles, giving them a superficial resemblance to the familiar marine tube worms. Figure 1. Scientific illustration of Rhabdopleura normani , showing the tub

Since ancient times, the deep sea has stirred both curiosity and fear. Humanity has long been fascinated by the mysteries hidden beneath the ocean's depths, yet the possibility of enormous creatures lurking in those dark waters has also inspired unease. Among the many organisms inhabiting the deep ocean, cephalopods stand out as particularly striking. These unusual invertebrates are renowned for their intelligence and remarkable flexibility, but their formidable appearance ha

In ancient oceans, most cephalopods possessed large external shells. Some shells were tightly coiled, while others extended in long, straight forms. Over evolutionary time, however, most modern cephalopods lost these external structures. Today, the vast majority of living members of the subclass Coleoidea—including octopuses and squids—lack an external shell. The only well-known living cephalopod with a prominent external shell is the nautilus, whose appearance differs marked

Octopus laqueus （Image source：Pophale A et al， CC BY 4.0 ） Octopuses have long been regarded as among the most intelligent invertebrates. Yet until recently, relatively little was known about how they sleep. A neurological study of the Octopus laqueus has revealed that these animals undergo a striking sleep cycle in which calm resting periods are repeatedly interrupted by short bursts of intense activity lasting only tens of seconds. These sleep cycles occur regularly and

In the tropical rainforests of Central America lives a bat known as the greater sac-winged bat ( Saccopteryx bilineata ). This species has a remarkably complex social system, and its communication is equally sophisticated. It is one of the few mammals known to possess vocal learning abilities, meaning that its vocal development is not determined solely by genetics but is shaped through experience and social interaction during growth. Colonies typically consist of one or sever

In many rural areas of tropical and subtropical regions, walking barefoot on moist soil is an entirely ordinary part of daily life. Yet in certain environments this simple habit may expose people to a concealed health risk: hookworm infection. Hookworms are parasitic nematodes that inhabit the human small intestine. The most common species infecting humans are Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale . These tiny parasites are capable of penetrating human skin directly,

In the folklore of North America and Europe, creatures such as the Jackalope and the Wolpertinger—rabbits said to bear antlers—are often regarded as bizarre mythical animals. Yet the image of a rabbit with horn-like growths may actually have originated from real observations in the wild. Early hunters occasionally reported capturing rabbits with unusual appearances, particularly animals whose faces and necks were covered with protruding growths resembling small horns. As earl

Maintaining body temperature in cold marine environments is a fundamental challenge for all marine mammals. For the sea otter ( Enhydra lutris ), the smallest marine mammal, this challenge is particularly severe. Water conducts heat far more efficiently than air, and temperatures in the North Pacific typically remain between 0 and 15°C. Under such conditions, body heat is lost rapidly. Unlike cetaceans and pinnipeds, sea otters lack a thick insulating layer of subcutaneous bl

Social insects that construct elaborate nests create environments that protect their colonies and allow long-term storage of resources. Such stable and resource-rich habitats often attract other organisms seeking food or shelter. In termite nests, impostors that resemble termites are occasionally found. One example occurs in the larvae of the fly genus Rhyncomya , recorded from the Little Atlas Mountains of Morocco. These larvae possess tentacle-like abdominal projections and

In biology, it is almost a truism that the offspring produced by a species belong to that same species. Yet research on European harvester ants of the genus Messor has revealed a system that overturns this basic expectation. The study shows that queens of the Iberian harvester ant, Messor ibericus , can produce male offspring belonging to two different species during their lifetime. Moreover, they rely on sperm from another species, the harvester ant Messor structor , in ord

Humans often use various medicines to treat injuries and illnesses. In the natural world, many animals also use substances with medicinal properties to alleviate discomfort. However, most of these cases involve ingesting plants with therapeutic effects, whereas deliberate treatment of external wounds with medicinal substances is rarely documented. Among simian primates (Simiiformes), only three relevant cases have so far been recorded. The first case involved a captive female

In introductory biology courses, plant photosynthesis is commonly divided into two major stages: the light reactions and the carbon reactions, also known as the Calvin cycle. In nature, carbon fixation occurs through three major metabolic strategies: the C3 pathway, the C4 pathway, and the carbon fixation mechanism known as crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Approximately 85% to 90% of angiosperms and nearly all gymnosperms rely on C3 metabolism. In this pathway, carbon diox