The new species Colobothrix deckeri is in the millipede family Dalodesmidae. It is remarkable because it is the first in its moisture-loving family to be found in a part of Australia with a low annual rainfall, between 400 and 500 mm.

Humans and vertebrates go through various stages of sleep, including REM (rapid eye movement) sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and muscle twitches. Can a similar sleep state be observed in spiders? Researchers from the Institute of Organismic Biology at the University of Bonn investigated this in the Australian jumping spider Portia fimbriata. EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, 26 OCTOBER, 3 P.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Scientists report fossil evidence of the first fully marine amphibian in a study from UC Davis, Peking University, and the Geological Museum of Guizhou. The amphibian is an armored, giant salamander-sized ocean creature.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, Prof. Longqiu Li at Harbin Institute of Technology and his co-workers have developed an all-in-one printed metamaterial just 24 mm thick that carries immense weight, swallows microwave signals, and hushes low-frequency noise, eliminating the need for bulky, glued multi-layer structures.

Tufts-led team pursues promising new approach to preventing and fighting the bacterium that causes the tick-borne illness 

Scientists have long explored the idea of using insects as our agents in the field in places where humans won’t fit or survive. Imagine a cockroach in an earthquake zone, able to skitter into the rubble to map out exactly where human chemical signatures can be found; or a grasshopper leaping through a minefield to bring back a map of the bombs based on the vapors it encountered. Recent research from Washington University in St. Louis brings this sci-fi concept one step closer to reality.

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced the opening of applications for the 2027 Emerging Leader Awards (ELA), which recognize researchers identifying innovative approaches to solve the challenges of Lyme and tick-borne illnesses. These awards provide funding and mentorship for scientists at the postdoctoral level through associate professor level who seek to advance novel methodologies that could change the future of diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and tick‑borne diseases.

Researchers have used genome-wide DNA data to identify a new insect species on the Ogasawara Islands, a remote Japanese archipelago roughly 900 to 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo. The findings suggest that evolution among island insects is more intricate than appearances imply. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.