Topic description and stories

Top: Complete specimen of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba biota of South China. Bottom: Magnification of ventral nerve cord of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis.

520 million-year-old fossilised nervous system is most detailed example yet found

29 Feb 2016

A 520 million-year-old fossilised nervous system – so well-preserved that individually fossilised nerves are visible – is the most complete and best...

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Gecko and ant

Why Spider-Man can’t exist: Geckos are ‘size limit’ for sticking to walls

18 Jan 2016

Latest research reveals why geckos are the largest animals able to scale smooth vertical walls – even larger climbers would require unmanageably...

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Ant's foot showing a fluid trail

How the stick insect sticks (and unsticks) itself

07 Oct 2015

New research shows the fluid found on insects’ feet does not help them adhere to vertical and inverted surfaces, as previously thought, but may in...

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Left: cricket on a trackball during experiment. Right: Auditory neuron in cricket brain.

Neural circuit in the cricket brain detects the rhythm of the right mating call

11 Sep 2015

Delay mechanism within elegant brain circuit consisting of just five neurons means female crickets can automatically detect chirps of males from same...

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Flying snowy owl

Silent flights: How owls could help make wind turbines and planes quieter

22 Jun 2015

A newly-designed material, which mimics the wing structure of owls, could help make wind turbines, computer fans and even planes much quieter. Early...

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Feeding time at Battersea Dogs Home. John Charles Dollman, Table d’Hôte at a Dogs Home, 1879.

How the dog found a place in the family home – from the Victorian age to ours

15 May 2015

Dogs have been companions to humans for tens of thousands of years. In a new book, Dr Philip Howell argues that it was the Victorians who ‘invented’...

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Pre-closure celebrations at the Museum of Zoology

16 May 2013

The University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge will be closed to the public from June 2nd 2013. Subject to planning permission, the museum will be...

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elephant fish embryo

Under the Microscope #15 - Elephant fish embryo

12 Mar 2012

Dr Andrew Gillis shows us an elephant fish embryo, which live in their egg and feed off of their yolk supply for 7 to 10 months before hatching out...

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Elephants at Kruger National Park, South Africa

Demise of large animals caused by both man and climate change

05 Mar 2012

Research provides new insights about what caused the extinction of many of the world’s big animals over the last 100,000 years.

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tiny worm faecal pellets and fossils

Under the Microscope #13 - Tiny worm pellets

01 Mar 2012

Matthew Kuo tells us how tiny worm faecal pellets affect how oil pipelines sit on the seabed.

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Skate head

Under the Microscope #9 – Skate head

16 Feb 2012

Dr Andrew Gillis shows us an embryonic skate head and explains how the red denticles dotted all over it have very similar properties to human teeth...

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Beetle egg

Under the Microscope #8 - Beetle embryo

13 Feb 2012

In this video, Matt Benton shows us nuclei moving inside a beetle egg as a beetle embryo forms.

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