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Just two years ago, the U.S. Embassy in Havana was bustling with U.S. personnel sent by the Obama Administration to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. Today it is nearly empty. In late 2016, diplomats started hearing a loud, piercing noise. Two dozen of them reported symptoms such as ear pain and dizziness, and were diagnosed with injuries consistent with a concussion. Suspicions of politically motivated “sonic attacks” soon followed.

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Climate change, pollution, and a multitude of threats are putting our freshwater supplies at risk. Water collection and purification technologies are becoming increasingly important, especially in major urban areas. In places such as the San Francisco Bay area, access to freshwater is limited. There, fog collection technologies have piqued the interest of many engineers looking to mediate the shortage of freshwater.

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People, animals, and even vehicles face the problem of tradeoffs – being good at one thing often means being bad at others. Circumventing tradeoffs can be a key to success. Some swimming turtles have solved this problem and are both highly stable and maneuverable in water – tasks usually at odds.

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New models identify factors that put coral reefs at risk of extinction in the face of climate change, and suggest that facilitating migration of corals could allow reefs to adapt. The results of this research will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA on January 7, 2018.

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New research shows that bonnethead sharks are able to digest seagrass, challenging the notion that all sharks survive on a purely carnivorous diet. This work will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA, on January 7th, 2018.

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New research applies machine learning to classify the behavior of juvenile salmon based on tracking data. Scientists are using these approaches to identify when and where salmon are being eaten by invasive fishes. The results of this study will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA on January 7, 2018.

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New research on the isotopic composition of barnacle shells shows that prehistoric whales were undertaking migrations, just like their modern-day descendants.

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New research characterizes jumping behavior in larval midge flies. Even though these larvae are typically restrained during development, they can use a unique physiological mechanism to jump long distances. These results will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA.

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New research shows that inflammation was modified by uterine decidual cells to facilitate implantation in placental mammals. The results of this study will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA on January 5, 2018.

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Scans of fossilized dinosaur prints show how some dinosaur feet moved not just on top of but through the earth. The results of this study will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA on January 4, 2018

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New research shows that the electrosensory organs of cartilaginous fish contain chitin, an invertebrate biopolymer. The results of this study will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA on January X, 2018

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Scientists and artists will gather in San Francisco to discuss ways of engaging broad audiences with science using narrative, through a special symposium, a workshop, and a story booth at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA, on January 5, 2018.

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To create prototype suction cups that are capable of glomming onto rough, wet surfaces and staying there, Ditsche has found inspiration in an aptly-named marine creature: the clingfish.

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linked changes in social behavior with sublethal exposure to the neonicotinoid pesticide, imidacloprid.

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One potential is to create some sort of biomimetic earwax adhesive surface that can be used in a ventilation system for robotics or for other kinds of machinery.

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Yet, how this key innovation evolved remains a mystery locked within the leathery shell of a lizard egg. Now, Dr. Thomas Sanger at Loyola University in Chicago has developed new techniques to understand more about the process of evolutionary diversification by observing development in real time.

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More than 200 species of “true toads” have fully functional inner ears, but cannot fully use them because they have lost their tympanic middle ears, the part of the ear which transmits sound air pressures from the outside world to the inner ear. These “earless” toads rely on sounds to communicate, so why would they lose a sense that is key to their survival and reproduction?

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The individual and the group: insignificant alone, awesome together. Like ants in a colony or neurons of a brain, the collective action of single actors can beautifully coalesce into something more complex than the parts.

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New research shows that orchids relying on mosquitoes for pollination attract them by producing the same odors found in common mosquito blood-hosts. The results of this study will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in New Orleans, LA on January 7, 2017.

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Do bats adjust their echolocation calls in response to other bat calls