Behavior
Thinking out of the box
Wise men say only fools rush in— researchers show that jellyfish can make (and learn from) that exact mistake. Reference:…
Author: Fayth Tan
I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Biology at Caltech. I study animal regeneration across phylogeny— my interests include the evolution and development of weird animals and obscure science history.
Paleontology
This is your brain on arthropod evolution
Reference: Moysiuk, J., Caron, J.B. (2022). A three-eyed radiodont with fossilized neuroanatomy informs the origin of the arthropod head and…
Human impacts
Industrialized shipping (literally) impacts whale sharks
The world’s largest fish suffered a mysterious decline. Researchers embarked on a global tracking project to find out why. Reference:…
Evolution
The Care and Feeding of Tropical Cichlids
Parenthood is an all-consuming task. How did some tropical fish evolve to take that sentiment literally? Reference: Weller, H. I.,…
Biological oceanography
S’not your typical carbon capture
This mucus-making microbe deploys a snotty strategy for cycling carbon in the ocean. Reference: Larsson, M.E., Bramucci, A.R., Collins, S.…
Paleontology
Motion in the ocean: how did the earliest animals move?
Fossils over 500 million years old may give us insight into the evolutionary origin of animal movement. Reference: Wang, X.,…
technology
Algal Automata
Unlike fictional cyborgs, this unlikely robot is powered by a biological process millions of years old. Reference: Phillips, N., Draper,…
Ecology
Diatom Dialogue
Reference: Font-Muñoz, J. S., Sourisseau, M., Cohen-Sánchez, A., Tuval, I., & Basterretxea, G. (2021). Pelagic diatoms communicate through synchronized beacon…
Biology
A “super simple” approach to immunity
This super simple animal has immune cells. What does it mean for biology? References: Mayorova, T.D., Hammar, K., Jung, J.H.…
Evolution
How did flying fish get their “wings”?
The evolution of their long, fin-like wings might be surprisingly simple.