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Evolution and nature

The siksak is a chicken whose wings are brown, the rest of its body is "painted" black and white, and its legs are long and thin. Photo: Reut Alon

Who is braver, the city bird or the country bird?

A new Israeli study examined the siksak, a common species of bird - and found that urban siksaks are braver than their rural brethren. Although we usually all appreciate this beautiful feature, it is possible that the change in behavior in question is actually not so positive for these birds
Neri's research focused on species of sharks and bats - important predators whose population has been significantly affected in recent years. Gray racket. Photography: Ilan Burnakash

Caught in the net: what fish in Gaza?

In the Gaza Strip there is no law or supervision against fishing for protected species - therefore, sharks and bats that are in danger of extinction are hunted there freely. A new Israeli study presents a method for collecting data from social networks that allows us to map the phenomenon, and find out what is happening in the Gaza Strip
The famous prehistoric rock paintings of Tsili N'Air, Algeria. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The evolutionary changes following the extinction of the large animals

The need to hunt small animals caused prehistoric man to improve his mental abilities in order to perfect his hunting tools
Sniper fish. Photo: Dr. Orit Nafha, University of Haifa

Prosocial behavior in fish

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A new study conducted at the University of Haifa found that even the sniper fish, which lack the "higher" areas of the cerebral cortex, which are seen as being responsible for social behavior, act in a pro-social way towards their friends, until they feel "cheated"
Photo: Yossi Avgana

Buzzards ("Egyptian eagles") born in Israel, disappeared in Yemen - where found thanks to volunteers in Poland and Portugal through watching YouTube

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According to Dr. Motty Charter, the fact that two amateur observers are the ones who identified the raccoon, an endangered species, through watching the Charter Group's Birds Online YouTube channel, highlights the enormous importance of citizen science in protecting wildlife.
The internal structure of an animal cell. Illustration: depositphotos.com

On bacteria and economy - the National Science Foundation

An examination of known growth laws that were discovered recently, led to the discovery of new growth laws
The success of the model can improve the study of bird migration. Pelicans, photo: Reot Alon

If birds were visible to the planes

A new Israeli study presents a solution to the many accidents between aircraft and winged creatures, and for the first time succeeds in identifying with the help of radar flocks of large birds, which until now were considered "invisible"
Bacterial cells before phage infection (left) and after (right). The virus replicates itself inside them and leads to the explosion of the cells and the spilling of their contents (in red - the bacterial DNA spilled from the cell)

Survive with 0% battery: an immune system that drains the cell of energy has been discovered

The new system was discovered in bacteria - but is also used in corals, bees and others
The colonies of a unique marine creature age in their entirety, rejuvenate again - and God forbid. Botrill flower, photo: Dr. Osherat Ben-Hamo

Phoenix of the sea

The animal that breaks the laws of nature: a new Israeli study reveals that the colonies of the flower botryll, a unique marine creature, age in their entirety - and then return to being young again. The phenomenon received the term "Orshina rhythm" - the Talmudic name of the mythological phoenix
Lung macrophages infected with human cytomegalovirus. In bright green - the cells where there is an active infection

On dormant viruses and protective proteins

New discoveries about how the result of infection with a virus from the herpes family is determined and where dormant viruses may hide in the body
The ornate spiny-tailed lizard, Uromastyx ornata, also known as the ornate lizard, is a species of lizard in the agamidae family. The species is endemic to the Middle East. Illustration: depositphotos.com

How is the climate crisis expected to harm the lizard population in Israel?

Climate change may lead to the collapse of the population of lizards that are common in the deserts of the Land of Israel
Daphnias or not to be... a sick Daphnia (the red one) and a healthy Daphnia. Photo: Einav Marcus

Despite the negative connotation: parasites have a positive effect on biodiversity and play a crucial role in maintaining it

New research shines a positive light on biological stigma
Flint vessels from periods that go back to the settlement of Homo erectus at the site of the Bnot Ya'akov Bridge over 600 thousand years ago. Courtesy of the researchers

Time travel following the travels of early man

The people who lived in the Hula valley hundreds of thousands of years ago made long journeys to obtain quality raw material for the production of hand stones
From the right: Dr. Yara Oppenheimer-Shanan and Dr. Tamir Klein. The race to the top

The bacteria that climbed a tall tree

Using artificial intelligence to crack the genome of the corona virus. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Artificial intelligence offers drugs against the corona virus from the protein sequence only

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IBM's artificial intelligence model was able to find compounds that bind to different sites on target proteins against the corona disease caused by the covid virus and this without knowing the mechanism of the attachment of the virus to the cell
A flying meteorologist in action. Tel Aviv bat. Photo: Tel Aviv University

Meteorologists with wings

Bats, urban heat islands, Tel Aviv University, zoology, geography, interdisciplinary research, biologically assisted sampling, smart cities, the Internet of Things, air pollution,

חולטה-השולל בהישולל בהישורים, the true reason for ליירירי הדיור ושיטה הגאוניט ההופקת את מעציעה השולל לעבדים מודריםים

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Chapter nine from the book: "The Free Man - Evolutionary Psychology, Brain Research and Understanding the Mind"
We have something to do about it - at the national, research and personal level as well. Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

All streams go to the sea - and the sea is full of (bacteria)

Wheat and rice are the most common food plants in the world. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Researchers have succeeded in deciphering the movement mechanism of the plant hormone gibberellin, which is of great importance to humanity

According to the researchers, it is a hormone, a small signal molecule, which controls the growth of plants. The decoding may help a lot in expanding agricultural crops and dealing with the global food crisis
Different species of foraminifera. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The marine microorganisms that indicate climate change

What makes foraminifera species sensitive to heat?
The nightshade uses a complex defense mechanism to ward off unwanted eaters - but gives the bulbul a "secret trick" that allows it to enjoy its fruits and spread it further. Photo: Gil Kopilevitz

Protection from the plant

A new Israeli study reveals that the desert gorse, a common plant in the country, releases a pungency that prevents many animals from eating it - but gives the bulbul birds a "medicine" that helps them digest its fruits. And: how is all this related to cancer prevention?
Ancient sturgeon fish. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Why do some species survive mass extinctions? The secret is perhaps a hidden "whole genome duplication".

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Geneticists have discovered a whole genome duplication event that occurred in the past in the common ancestor of sturgeons and paddlefish that may have helped them during the mass extinction 200 million years ago
Tristram butterfly box. Photography - Ofir Tomer

Butterflies collected in the 19th century were donated by the Oxford Natural History Museum to the Tel Aviv University Natural History Museum

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The box contains dried butterflies that were collected in the Land of Israel between the years 1863-1865 by delegations of the Anglican Church and have now been donated to the Steinhart Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University
One of the sons of the Nama. Photo from Wikipedia

New DNA research changes the origin of the human race

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A new model of human evolution suggests that Homo sapiens arose from many closely related populations rather than from a single group
The white cells in the shrimp tail. Photo: Ben Gurion University

The shrimp redefines the laws of optics

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The shrimp has a particularly bright white color on its back and limbs that are intended to attract fish, which it 'cleanses' of pests it feeds on. An in-depth examination of the white substance using special electron microscopes revealed that the substance consists of an incredibly thin layer of very dense nanospheres (spheres of very tiny diameter)
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