A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a report publishing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 24. The hell ant, which was preserved in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae—an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialized, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey. 

A new study from the University of Kansas in Ecology Letters reveals the study of spatial synchrony over a long enough timescale leads to better testing of ideas, improved statistical results and new conceptual realms for understanding ecology, conserving species and farming more profitably.

The newly established Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE) is a 10-year program that will support projects aimed at uncovering how affordances — opportunities for action available in an environment — shape representations in the mind and the brain. With an emphasis on open science and interdisciplinary collaboration, SCENE will unite leading scientists across neuroscience, neurotheory and machine learning.

Charcoal rot, caused by the soilborne fungus Macrophomina phaseolina (Mp), poses a serious threat to soybean health and harvests at a global scale. The disease thrives in dry, hot conditions and can quietly devastate crops before symptoms even appear. Now, researchers have developed high-resolution risk maps that predict where charcoal rot is most likely to occur—based on the soil beneath the surface.

Researchers, led by Penn State biologists, have comprehensively predicted the location of potential non-B DNA structures in the newly available telomere-to-telomere genomes of the great apes.

BioOne is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of the BioOne Ambassador Award. Now in its eighth year, this prestigious award celebrates the next generation of excellence in science communication. Recipients are exceptional early-career researchers within the BioOne community who are accelerating the dissemination of their work to a broader audience and fostering public understanding and appreciation of science.

Researchers from Brazil and the United States point out the advantages of fish farming over livestock farming, but warn of the need for stricter environmental regulations to prevent the activity from becoming an additional pressure on the biome.