Biology Popular Science (Premium)

Sleep is a form of rest that animals use to recover energy. For many species, adequate sleep is essential. When animals fail to obtain enough rest, they often show slower reactions and poorer judgment, which can negatively affect survival and performance. Most people are familiar with the experience of nodding off when they are sleep-deprived. If someone tries to perform a task that requires strong concentration—such as driving—while lacking sleep, brief episodes of drowsines

When people think about long-lived animals, creatures such as sea turtles that can survive for more than a century or whales that may live for two or three hundred years often come to mind. Compared with these organisms, the average human lifespan of roughly seventy or eighty years seems relatively short. Throughout history, many individuals have searched for ways to extend life, hoping to discover a secret that could delay aging or even achieve immortality. Scientists have l

Galls produced by the gall wasp Diplolepis polita （圖片來源：Dean Morley，採用  CC BY-ND 2.0  授權） When walking outdoors, you may sometimes notice strange structures appearing on plant leaves. Such unusual swellings can arise from various causes. In some cases they are produced by infections from viruses, bacteria, or fungi. In other situations, organisms such as nematodes or arthropods—including insects—can also trigger the formation of bizarre structures on plants. Among these possi

Human activity is currently releasing large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, pushing Earth's climate toward levels of warmth not seen for millions of years and producing long-lasting effects on ecosystems. However, given present-day emission levels, even though certain regions may eventually become unsuitable for life because of severe greenhouse warming, most parts of the planet would still remain habitable. Over much longer timescales, the Sun itself will

The striped marlin Kajikia audax  is a large predatory fish and one of the top predators of the open ocean. It possesses remarkable swimming speed and a long, sharp bill. During hunting events these fish often appear in groups. Yet such high-speed predation creates a potential problem: when several predators armed with dangerous bills rush toward the same prey, how do they avoid injuring one another? Previous observations have shown that striped marlin hunting in groups typic

Silicon dioxide (SiO₂), commonly known as silica, is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth. It is a major component of rocks and sand, accounting for more than ninety percent of the material found in many geological formations. In daily life, human activities frequently bring workers into contact with silica-containing materials. Construction, demolition of old buildings, interior stone decoration, stone carving, ceramic production, quarry blasting, and sandblasting proc

Ebola virus under electron microscopy（圖片來源：Cynthia Goldsmith， CC0 1.0  公共領域） In 1976, a terrifying infectious disease broke out in villages near the Ebola River in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Individuals who became infected developed severe symptoms including systemic bleeding, fever, myocardial complications, and multiple organ failure. The first documented patient was a teacher named Mabalo Lokela. At the beginning of his illness, the disease w

Bonobo ( Pan paniscus ), a primate mammal that exhibits same-sex sexual behaviour（圖片來源：natataek，採用  CC BY-SA 3.0  授權） Same-sex sexual behaviour has long attracted attention from many academic fields, including psychology, sociology, biology, and evolutionary science. Because such behaviour does not directly lead to reproduction, it has often been viewed, in theoretical terms, as disadvantageous from an evolutionary perspective. Yet the behaviour persists in a wide range of an

Tetraodon mbu （圖片來源：snoopy42， CC0 1.0  公共領域） Pain is one of the body's fundamental protective mechanisms. When an animal encounters something that causes pain, the unpleasant sensation serves as a warning, prompting it to withdraw and avoid further harm. In most situations, pain triggered by contact with damaging stimuli is a normal physiological response and rarely causes lasting problems. Once the injury heals, the pain typically disappears as well. However, pain does not a

Humpback whale（圖片感謝Tomas Kotouc提供） Vocal communication is one of the most common ways animals interact socially. Sounds may serve many functions, including attracting mates, defending territories, coordinating group activities, or issuing warnings and defensive signals. Despite the widespread importance of acoustic communication, the ontogeny of animal vocalizations remains poorly understood. Current research has described the development of vocal behaviour in detail mainly i

In natural ecosystems, organisms are linked through intricate and often surprising biological relationships. One particularly fascinating example is the symbiosis between parasitoid wasps and a group of viruses known as polydnaviruses (PDVs). These viruses infect insects and are intimately associated with certain lineages of parasitoid wasps. To date, more than fifty PDV types have been identified, primarily linked to parasitoid wasps belonging to groups such as Microgastrina

Aging is a complex biological process that arises from the combined influence of multiple factors. One of the most frequently discussed mechanisms involves the gradual shortening of telomeres, the structures located at the ends of chromosomes. Each time a somatic cell divides, these telomeres shorten slightly. Eventually, when they become critically short, the cell can no longer continue dividing and enters a senescent state. Beyond telomere shortening, many additional factor

Cancer cells arise when normal cells accumulate errors in DNA replication across many generations of cell division. As these mutations continue to accumulate, the DNA of descendant cells gradually diverges from that of the original healthy cell lineage. This divergence disrupts normal cellular function and leads to abnormal physiological behavior. Within the body, such cells become harmful. If they continue to proliferate, they may initially disrupt the function of a local ti

In biology, reproductive strategies can broadly be divided into two categories based on how many times a species reproduces during its lifetime: semelparity and iteroparity. Semelparous species reproduce only once before dying, whereas iteroparous species reproduce multiple times over the course of their lives. Many people learn early on that salmon migrate back to the rivers where they were born to spawn and then die shortly afterward. Because reproduction is followed immedi

Desmodus rotundus （感謝Joel Sartore提供） Bats occupy a unique position among mammals. They are the only mammalian group capable of sustained powered flight, and many species have also evolved echolocation to navigate and locate food. For decades, bats have been recognized as hosts of numerous zoonotic viruses. Rabies virus, Marburg virus, Nipah virus, and many coronaviruses have all been linked to bats. Yet infections in bats rarely produce obvious pathological symptoms. Instead,

Rhyncomya larva（感謝Roger Vila提供）

Across the vast grasslands of central Kenya lives a strikingly colorful bird that has surprised scientists studying cooperation in animals. This species, the superb starling ( Lamprotornis superbus ), belongs to the order Passeriformes and is easily recognized by its metallic plumage that glints with iridescent color. Superb starlings are highly social birds that live in groups typically consisting of several dozen individuals, sometimes reaching as many as sixty. These group

Human activities in the modern world continue to drive the loss and degradation of natural habitats such as forests, grasslands and wetlands, placing global bird diversity under unprecedented pressure. Measures aimed at mitigating these threats—including the establishment of nature reserves and national parks, restrictions on hunting, stronger wildlife protection laws and policies to reduce carbon emissions—have so far proved insufficient to halt species extinctions and the e

In molecular biology and synthetic biology, one of the ultimate ambitions has long been the ability to design and construct entirely new living systems at the scale of whole genomes. With the rapid advancement of DNA sequencing and synthesis technologies, our ability to read and edit genetic sequences has greatly improved. However, most previous gene-editing techniques have relied on modifying DNA sequences that already exist in natural organisms. Designing a functional genom

In human society, when someone suddenly collapses and loses consciousness, people often instinctively attempt first aid to wake them. This raises an intriguing question: is this type of “revival response” unique to humans? Do animals also display specific social behaviors when one of their companions becomes unconscious? To explore this question, researchers examined how laboratory mice react when encountering companions that have become unconscious or died. Mouse behaviors t