Reproduction in the animal world is all kinds of freaky, from penis jousting to mammals laying eggs, there seems to be just about every method going. However, one thing that is not common is females of one species being able to produce offspring of another, but that’s exactly what has been discovered in Iberian harvester ants (Messor ibericus). The rest …
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In a groundbreaking study published in BioRxiv, researchers have unveiled a mysterious microbe that forces us to rethink what it means to be alive. The study, led by Ryo Harada and his colleagues, introduces Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, a novel organism discovered in DNA samples taken from plankton near Japan’s coast. Unlike anything scientists have encountered before, Sukunaarchaeum offers profound insights into …
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A tidy textbook definition of life has never existed, yet most biology lessons still lean on the idea that living things must grow, make energy, and reproduce on their own. That simple checklist leaves viruses outside the club, since their genetic shells activate only inside another organism and go dormant again when drifting alone. Ryo Harada of Dalhousie …
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