Biology

Humans have long been fascinated by organisms that can produce light. Aristotle, who was a scientist as well as a philosopher, wrote the first detailed descriptions of what he called “cold light” more than 2,000 years ago. More recently, pioneering researchers like World War II Army veteran Emmett Chappelle and deep submergence vehicle pilot Edith Widder advanced the study of this phenomenon with novel technologies. At least 94 living organisms produce their own light through a chemical reaction inside their bodies – an ability called bioluminescence. Examples include luminous fireflies, algae that create “glow-in-the-dark” bays, small crustaceans with intricate courtship displays, and deep-sea fish and coral. Yet despite its widespread occurrence, scientists don’t yet know when or where it first emerged, or its original function. As marine biologists who specialize in deep-sea habitats, we know that bioluminescence is particularly common i...

It’s an observation as old as humans gathering around campfires: Light at night can draw an erratically circling crowd of insects. In art, music and literature, this spectacle is an enduring metaphor for dangerous but irresistible attractions. And watching their frenetic movements really gives the sense that something is wrong – that instead of finding food and evading predators, these nocturnal pilots are trapped by a light. Sadly, centuries of witnessing what happens have produced little certainty about why it happens. How does a simple light change fast, precise navigators into helpless, flittering captives? We are researchers examining flight, vision and evolution, and we have used high-speed tracking techniques in newly published research to provide an answer. The reason insects fly around light will surprise you. Moths to a flame? Many old explanations for this hypnotic behavior have not fully panned out. An early notion w...

Climate change is threatening the survival of plants and animals around the globe as temperatures rise and habitats change. Some species have been able to meet the challenge with rapid evolutionary adaptation and other changes in behavior or physiology. Dark-colored dragonflies are getting paler in order to reduce the amount of heat they absorb from the sun. Mustard plants are flowering earlier to take advantage of earlier snowmelt. Lizards are becoming more cold-tolerant to handle the extreme variability of our new climate. However, scientific studies show that climate change is occurring much faster than species are changing. Zebrafish have evolved to thrive in water a degree or so warmer than normal, but they struggle to survive at higher temperatures. isoft/E+ Getty Images What is evolutionary adaptation? The word “adaptation” is used in many ways by climate scientists, but it has a...

Strong winds blew across mountain slopes after a record-setting warm, dry summer. Small fires began to blow up into huge conflagrations. Towns in crisis scrambled to escape as fires bore down. This could describe any number of recent events, in places as disparate as Colorado, California, Canada and Hawaii. But this fire disaster happened over 110 years ago in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana. The “Big Burn” of 1910 still holds the record for the largest fire season in the Northern Rockies. Hundreds of fires burned over 3 million acres – roughly the size of Connecticut – most in just two days. The fires destroyed towns, killed 86 people and galvanized public policies committed to putting out every fire. Many residents of Wallace, Idaho, fled on trains ahead of the 1910 blaze. Volunteers who stayed saved part of the town, but about a third of it burned. R.H. McKay/U.S. Forest Service...

The Steller’s sea eagle is one of the largest and most aggressive raptors in the world. With an 8-foot wingspan and striking white markings, these birds tower over their bald eagle cousins. Steller’s are sublime, but they aren’t beautiful in the way people often sentimentalize animals. Most adult Steller’s survived by beating their weaker sibling to death in the nest within weeks of birth and were rewarded for their aggression by nurturing parents. No wonder they can fight off brown bears and hunt on the sea ice of the Russian Arctic. Since mid-2020, one individual Steller’s sea eagle has drawn national media attention because of the vast distances it has traveled – from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Alaska, then to Texas, eastern Canada, New England, and most recently, a reported sighting on May 2, 2023 in Newfoundland – and the extreme lengths to which birders are going to glimpse it. Biologists have learned remarkable th...