#currentbiology — Public Fediverse posts

4-Sep-2026
Not a cheetah: #AncientDNA reveals the surprising #Arctic life of extinct North American cat
New #paleogenomics research by UC Santa Cruz reveals how the so-called #AmericanCheetah adapted to harsh Arctic conditions by preying on fish

research in #CurrentBiology

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142183

#science #ecology #carnivores #felines #bigCats

4-Sep-2026
Not a cheetah: #AncientDNA reveals the surprising #Arctic life of extinct North American cat
New #paleogenomics research by UC Santa Cruz reveals how the so-called #AmericanCheetah adapted to harsh Arctic conditions by preying on fish

research in #CurrentBiology

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142183

#science #ecology #carnivores #felines #bigCats

4-Sep-2026
Not a cheetah: #AncientDNA reveals the surprising #Arctic life of extinct North American cat
New #paleogenomics research by UC Santa Cruz reveals how the so-called #AmericanCheetah adapted to harsh Arctic conditions by preying on fish

research in #CurrentBiology

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142183

#science #ecology #carnivores #felines #bigCats

4-Sep-2026
Not a cheetah: #AncientDNA reveals the surprising #Arctic life of extinct North American cat
New #paleogenomics research by UC Santa Cruz reveals how the so-called #AmericanCheetah adapted to harsh Arctic conditions by preying on fish

research in #CurrentBiology

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142183

#science #ecology #carnivores #felines #bigCats

4-Sep-2026
Not a cheetah: #AncientDNA reveals the surprising #Arctic life of extinct North American cat
New #paleogenomics research by UC Santa Cruz reveals how the so-called #AmericanCheetah adapted to harsh Arctic conditions by preying on fish

research in #CurrentBiology

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142183

#science #ecology #carnivores #felines #bigCats

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about the latest #artificialCells vs progress in #RNAworld research. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/08/dont-create-evolve.html
#science #originOfLife #astrobiology #RNA

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about counting #insects. Just how many #species are there, and how on Earth does one arrive at a reasonable estimate for that number? Also: new species discoveries, population declines. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/08/how-many-insects-are-there.html
#science #ecology #evolution #environment #arthropods #invertebrates

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology has cute #penguins and #seals as well as a dose of #climateCatastrophe. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/07/antarctic-in-danger.html

#science #antarctic #environment #conservation

today's feature in #CurrentBiology is about #caveLions and other missing #megafauna of the #Pleistocene. Blog entry contains magic link for free access:

https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/07/missing-megafauna.html

#science #ecology #animals #evolution #genome

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about the less celebrated #microbiomes of nose, skin and vagina. Blog entry contains magic link for free access (50 days). https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-less-famous-microbiomes.html

#science #ecology #health #humans #microbes

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about preventing #pandemics in the light of the recent #hantavirus outbreak and ongoing #ebola epidemic. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/06/preventing-pandemics.html

#science #publicHealth

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about forgotten #forests - from the ones of Doggerland now under the North Sea to the ones we're currently forgetting to save from #deforestation.
https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/05/a-forest-under-sea.html

#science #ecology #conservation #plants #climateCatastrophe

the stars of this week's feature in #CurrentBiology are more than 400 cuddly #koalas! It's all about #conservation #genomics, also covering eg #SnowLeopards, #SeaSnails, #lemurs https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/04/survival-secrets-of-koalas.html

#science #genome

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about the #safety (or lack thereof) of #AI #technology. Contains some rather depressing findings. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-aipocalypse-starts-here.html #science

Insect navigation: Lunar lunacy tamed by an ant
Eric J. Warrant
Unlike the sun, the #moon is a notoriously fickle visual cue for #navigation. However, a nocturnal ant has now been found to use the moon for navigation during night-long foraging trips, compensating for its movement across the sky to maintain navigational accuracy.

Dispatch in #CurrentBiology

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)00157-0

#science #ants #insects

Last year's feature on the impact of the trump regime on global #publicHealth is now in the open archives: https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/03/moving-backwards-and-breaking-things.html #science #currentBiology #WHO #health #policy

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sflorg/116131363356930077

Eyes, as light-sensing organs of the #lens #eye type, have #evolved independently multiple times in the animal kingdom. But what did a representative of the early #vertebrate lineage look like? According to G. Kafetzis et al. (2026), a worm-like #ancestor possessed #medianeyes bring #homologous to the modern #pinealgland of the #brain. Published in #CurrentBiology. #evolution

© this text #StefanFWirth March 2026

#Reference
G. Kafetzis et al. (2026),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.028

For some reason the posts in my slow thread don't bridge to bluesky, although the post at the top did. So I just have to toot today's #CurrentBiology feature again: https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/02/plants-recycling-metals.html #science #ecology #metals #recycling #phytomining #resources #nickel #gold #rareEarthElements

RE: https://biologists.social/@jekely/115926352021625708

#Tooluse in #bovids so far was underestimated until a recent #scientific #study highlighted Austrian #cow #Veronika and her #flexible #purposeful self-#scrarching tool handling. Indicating that further studies might show similar potentials also in other #Bovidae taxa.
The authors A. J. Osuna-Mascaró & Alice M.I. Auersperg (2026) published their findings in #CurrentBiology.
© This text #StefanFWirth Berlin 2026

Reference:

A. J. Osuna-Mascaró & Alice M.I. Auersperg (2026)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.11.059

yesterday's feature in #CurrentBiology is on the #urbanEcology of feeding #birds and #squirrels; blog entry contains magic link for free access: https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-urban-ecology-of-feeding-birds-and.html #science #ecology

New study reveals a primate brain circuit that keeps motivation going even under threat, via a key striatopallidal pathway 🧠⚙️ Read more in Current Biology: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01688-4 #neuroscience #motivation #brainresearch #CurrentBiology

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 1: Revisiting the #conservation of #sharks and #rays pegged to the recent #CITES meeting that ramped up their protection. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2026/01/stopping-shark-trade.html #science #marineBiology

The (slow) thread collecting all my features published in #CurrentBiology in 2026 starts here. #ProseAndPassion #Science #ScienceWriter #ScienceJournalism #biology #ecology The old thread for 2025 is here: https://mastodon.social/@proseandpassion/113782468349225978

the last #CurrentBiology feature of the year is on #recovery of species after #extinction threat. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/12/i-needed-cheering-up-after-covering-30.html #science #ecology #conservation

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 24: After that climate feature, I needed something more soothing, so I wrote about species recovering after avoiding #extinction.

https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/12/i-needed-cheering-up-after-covering-30.html

#science #ecology #conservation #rewilding

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about the recent #Lancet report on the #health impact of the #climateCatastrophe: https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/12/30-years-of-climate-failure.html

#science #environment #publicHealth

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 23: Venting my rage about the #climateCatastrophe by writing about the #Lancet report on its #health effects.

https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/12/30-years-of-climate-failure.html #science #environment #Belem #cop30

this week's feature in #CurrentBiology is about how #ancientDNA revealed the power of #prehistoric #women https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/11/prehistoric-women-ruled.html

#science #archaeology #matriarchy #matrilinear #genome

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 22: #Prehistoric #women are getting some recognition at last:

https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/11/prehistoric-women-ruled.html
#science #genome #ancientDNA #archaeology #genealogy #society #matriarchy

What can algae tell us about plant evolution?

The development of land plants is deeply tied to their ancestors: simple green algae that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. This includes a group that can still be found today - Coleochaetophyceae - freshwater algae that form branching, disc-shaped structures resembling some of the building blocks of plants’ bodies.

Researchers looked at DNA and data from fossil evidence to figure out when and how this alga developed this structure: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html?id=7960

Research in #CurrentBiology: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.046

this week's #CurrentBiology feature: how #tinyForests planted with the #Miyawaki method became a big thing https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-big-story-of-tiny-forests.html #science #ecology #forests #ecosystemServices #conservation #earthwatch #citizenScience #tinyforest

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 12: how #tinyForests planted with the #Miyawaki method became a big thing https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-big-story-of-tiny-forests.html #science #ecology #forests #ecosystemServices #conservation #earthwatch #citizenScience #tinyforest

new #Introduction for the bsky bridge : I’m a #BioChemist turned #ScienceWriter, write a feature for every issue of #CurrentBiology, 2/month, mostly about #ecology #evolution #environment also #human, #cultural things seen thru #biology prism. Plus #ScienceBooks, most recently: #Intertwined: From insects to icebergs Also writing a #musical #FamilyHistory #memoir around #biography of our old #cello. #PirateLuthier fixing unloved #violins #NoCars #cycling, #trains, #liveable #cities #townmouse

last year's #CurrentBiology feature on #SnakeVenom now in the open archives:
https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2023/12/snake-toxins.html #science #ecology #evolution #snakes #proteinToxins

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 2: Large herbivores like #elephants #mammoths #mastodons share one big problem: human hunters. New evidence shows even #Neanderthals hunted and butchered elephants, so time for a big picture feature on this.

https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-long-history-of-elephants-suffering.html

#science #conservation #megafauna

my features published in #CurrentBiology this year, issue 23: #Evolution and #ecology of snake venom. Blog entry contains magic link for free access: http://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2023/12/snake-toxins.html #science #ProteinToxins #snakes Erratum: Note that the first image of the feature initially showed a non-venomous python instead of the venomous mamba intended. This has now been corrected in the online edition, but obviously remains wrong in the print version for all times.