biology
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The Genetics Behind Bees’ Black and Yellow Butts
If you’re close enough to a bumblebee to see the order of its stripes, you’re probably too close to it. But lucky for you, a team of geneticists recently did a more highfalutin version of that task, analysing several species of bee to suss out what causes different species of the insect to get different…
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Some Palaeontologists Think They have Found Fossilised Dinosaur DNA. Others Aren’t So Sure
Dinosaur researchers working on extremely well-preserved remains from the Jehol Biota in northeastern China recently reported that they had detected fossilised biomolecules in a duck-billed dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous.
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India’s ‘Black Tigers’ Have Unusually Thick Stripes Thanks to a Genetic Mutation
At a wildlife park in eastern India, tigers feature a variety of coat fashions. Most notably, some of the cats have very thick black stripes. Now, a team of geneticists in India and the United States have identified a genetic mutation in the tiger troupe that explains why some of them are so dark.
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What Is the Most Important Scientific Development of the Last 50 Years?
There are people who argue, persuasively, that Hollywood films are worse than they used to be. Or that novels have turned inward, away from the form-breaking gestures of decades past. In fact, almost anything can be slotted into a narrative of decline — the planet, most obviously, but also (per our former president) toilets and…