Cane toad’s own killing strategy could be deployed against it
Tadpoles eat eggs of their own species – but also poison the water to suppress competitors. This could be used to control the invasive species population
Hidden oasis of oxygen suggests life took first breath in lakes
A thin layer of oxygen trapped at the bottom of an Antarctic lake seems to recreate the conditions on ancient Earth
Zoologger: A spider that looks and smells like bird droppings
The bird-dung crab spider has taken camouflage to new levels to deter predators and help catch prey
Winking exoplanets could reveal interplanetary comet strikes
Shoemaker-Levy 9, a comet that smacked into Jupiter in 1994, could help us detect similar collisions in other solar systems
Viral clips of murder may help drive contagious copycat killings
The shareability of violent videos like that of the Virginia news shooting may contribute to future crimes – and they may be getting more clickable
Obama defends decision to let Shell drill for oil in Arctic
This week, the US president visited Alaska to urge action on climate change. But activists are upset over oil drilling his administration has permitted nearby
Practising staring at dots can shrink your blind spot
Certain exercises can reduce the gaps in our visual field, and may eventually help those with eye damage to see better
Ban on chimp testing puts wild ape vaccine for Ebola at risk
Tests of a promising oral vaccine to protect wild apes from ebola may be held back by moves to end the use of chimps as experimental animals
Doctors use antipsychotics to calm ‘challenging behaviour’
Psychotropic drugs such as antipsychotics are being prescribed to subdue people with intellectual disability who are not mentally ill
Continental break-up set the stage for life in Earth’s mantle
The first evidence that ancient microbes colonised subsea mantle rock hints at how life might have emerged on Earth – and even other worlds
