It turns out that ants are capable of making career moves.

Computer tracking of ants shows that colonies have three main occupations: nursing the queen, cleaning, and foraging for food. Younger ants typically stay near the queen, but as they get older, they make the transition to foraging. This transition with regards to age was an exciting discovery, giving more insight into ant behavior.
 
Source: http://www.nature.com/news/tracking-whole-colonies-shows-ants-make-career-moves-1.12833 ...

A goat-sheep chimera also known as a geep all over the world is normally produced by the fusion of the embryos of both a sheep and a goat. The animal formed by this method thus has cells of not only goat but also of sheep origin. Those parts of the chimera that grow from the embryo of a sheep are woolly. Whereas those that grow from the embryo of a goat turn out to be hairy.

The wolphin is the extraordinary result of breeding a female bottle-nosed dolphin with a male false killer whale. In captivity there are two occurrences, both are in the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Unlike other hybrids, the wolphin is fertile.

This striped bat is only the fifth of its kind to be collected, and is so unique, it warranted the creation of a new genus.

Here's a fun way to cheat on your next biochemistry exam

In 1937, a scientist named Carothers died at the young age of 41, desolated that he had not made his mark in the scientific world. His invention, Nylon, was to become one of the most commonly used plastics in the world. Nylon is used in toothbrushes, ropes and fabric for parachutes and clothing.

In the last century, plastics (synthetic polymers) have been so ubiquitous that it is difficult to imagine life without it. But what happens to it when we longer have use for it? Where does it go when we throw plastic out?

Inca terns are unique and beautiful birds—slender with white-tipped gray feathers, a white curly moustache, yellow lips and a bright orange-red bill. They have a distinctive call that sounds like a high pitched laugh, which is often accompanied by bowing gestures.

Inca terns are natives of the western shoreline of South America and the islands located offshore. They are especially abundant in northern Chile and Peru in the summer. They migrate in winter, venturing to Ecuador and central Chile.

Inca terns swoop down and pluck fish from near the water’s surface. They also sometimes get scraps left behind by whales, or flock to where sea lions are eating on rocks, to steal stray bits of food.
 
A male who is interested in a female will perform aer ...

This beautiful animal is Red-bellied short-necked turtle. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and in Australia it is highly endangered. These stunning colours are highly pronounced as infants and juveniles, but fade as they age. They reach about ten inches (25 cm) in length.

The coelacanth is known as a “living fossil” because it looks very much like its ancestors from 300 million years ago. Its genome has been sequenced, and it, in fact, has been found to be evolving at a very slow rate. The genetic sequence also might help give some insight into the transition from fins to limbs.

Dolphins are regarded as the second smartest animal alive, and are only outwitted by humans. Compared to other animals their size, dolphin brains are five times larger. Dolphins have been shown to be self-aware, and are capable of a wide range of emotions.

Nearly 20% of all electricity in the world comes from hydropower, and Norway has adapted to rely nearly entirely on it. They are the world leader in hydroelectricity production, generating 120 TWh annually. France and Sweden are next highest, each generating ~65 TWh per year.

The surinam toad reproduces in a way that is not for the faint of heart. The female expels dozens of eggs, which the male fertilizes and places on her back, where they become engrained into the flesh. When it comes time to hatch, like so many pimples, the eggs rupture and the babies emerge.

Many people believe that if you eat certain foods, it can cause your blood to become more alkaline or acidic. Medical research studies have clearly shown that breathing and blood carbon dioxide and bicarbonate ions levels are more significant factors in blood-pH control. Alveolar hyperventilation that is common in the sick reduces cell oxygenation, increases resting blood lactate levels, intensifies production of free radicals due to tissue hypoxia (cells are deprived of oxygen), causes diabetic ketoacidosis in the genetically predisposed patients, and suppresses the immune system and main blood-pH buffer systems of the human organism. ...

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, also known as cordyceps, is a type of fungus that infects insects and takes over their nervous systems. The method with which they take control of nervous systems is still a mystery to science. However, the repercussions of such an infection are all too clear.

Carpenter Ants, for example, live in the canopy of the tropical rainforest. They frequently forage for food on the forest floor. Unfortunately, this is where the cordyceps fungus proliferates. A new study shows that the fungus prefers to grow on “the undersides of leaves sprouting from the northwest side of plants that grow on the forest floor” This places it in an ideal position to grow and release its spores to infect ants. Here's how the fungus gets ther ...

In the early 1900s, Swedish tree sculptor Axel Erlandson planted “The Basket Tree.” Actually, this is a bit of a misnomer, as it is a collection of six different Sycamore trees that have been grafted together. In the late 1940s, Erlandson opened a roadside oddity attraction containing 20 to 30 tree sculptures. Today, they have been transplanted and are on display at Gilroy Gardens amusement park in California.

Feeding bread to wild ducks is incredibly harmful. Bread has almost no nutrients that are useful for the duck, so they become malnourished and more susceptible to disease. Compounding the problem is excessive bread in the water, which leads to high levels of E. coli and even botulism outbreaks. Wild ducks need to stay wild, and artificially feeding them causes them to lose their natural instincts for acquiring food. If you want to feed captive waterfowl, consider chopped vegetables, whole grains, or fruit instead. ...

The biomass pyramid above shows how a large amount of plant matter is eaten by many small animals which are in turn eaten by fewer numbers of large animals. At each step of the biomass pyramid, matter and energy are lost in the form of energy to keep the animal warm and moving, or as faeces and urine. Therefore, the more steps there are in a biomass pyramid, the more loss of matter and energy that occurs.

Humans are usually at the top of the Food Chain or biomass pyramid (unless we are eaten by sharks, lions or bears!). Also, there is often a significant loss of matter and energy at each step that can be avoided. Does that mean that we should all become vegetarians? No. However, we can eat more vegetables and less meat.

Food security is an im ...

The FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform) ship is an open ocean research vessel designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90 degrees, resulting in only the front 55 feet (17 metres out of 108 metres) of the vessel pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks. When flipped, most of the buoyancy for the platform is provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence FLIP is a stable platform mostly immune to wave action. At the end of a mission, compressed air is pumped into the ballast tanks in the flooded section and the vessel returns to its horizontal position so it can be towed to a new location. ...