Busy bees can build the right hive from tricky foundations
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Sep-2025 09:11 ET (22-Sep-2025 13:11 GMT/UTC)
There’s more than one way to build a honeybee hive, depending on the needs of the bees, according to a study published August 26th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Golnar Gharooni-Fard of the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, and colleagues.
A deep sea worm that inhabits hydrothermal vents survives the high levels of toxic arsenic and sulfide in its environment by combining them in its cells to form a less hazardous mineral. Chaolun Li of the Institute of Oceanology, CAS, China, and colleagues report these findings in a new study published August 26th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.
New Arizona State University research reveals the extent to which sewage pollution threatens the fragile coral reef ecosystems of West Hawaiʻi Island. The study identifies exactly where sewage-contaminated water is entering the ocean, further damaging coral reefs already impacted by climate change, and endangering human health. The research team used advanced airborne mapping techniques, along with comprehensive field sampling and sophisticated statistical models, to pinpoint locations where high levels of fecal bacteria associated with populated coastal areas are driving worsening contamination. The study provides the critical data needed by government officials and local communities to mitigate this threat and protect the health and biodiversity of coastal ecosystems.
Bacteria aren’t just mindless microbes. New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that single bacterial cells can carry a “memory” of their past environments—passing it down through generations—before eventually forgetting. Using a new technique called Microcolony-seq, scientists uncovered hidden subpopulations inside infections, each with different survival strategies. The finding could explain why antibiotics and vaccines sometimes fail—and may point the way toward more precise treatments.
A German-Chinese research team led by Konstanz evolutionary biologist Axel Meyer has sequenced the genome of the pygmy seahorse. The researchers were able to identify gene losses that are responsible for the shortened nose and enable the animal's astonishing camouflage and mimicry to their host coral.