Image of the Day

Slithering snakes mimic waves of light, “diffracting” as they pass by an obstacle.

A virtual exhibition of C.R. Percival’s slides reveals the natural world up close.

Splashes from raindrops spend fungal spores high enough aloft to be swept away by the wind, researchers observe with high-speed photography.

Researchers have implanted electronics masquerading as neurons in the brains of mice.

To track the behavior of blacktip sharks, researchers are equipping them with radios and satellite sensors.

A human breast cancer cell divides as it moves through surrounding blood vessel cells in vitro.

A missing microRNA leads to degenerating neurons and blindness in a fruit fly.

Young zebra finches that receive feedback after they sing from a video of a fluffed-up female eventually develop more accurate tunes.

Four decades after it was thought to have disappeared in the wild, scientists have found a single female Wallace’s giant bee in Indonesia.

When lacking certain enzymes that help plants coordinate cell division, Arabidopsis thaliana cells grow and collect multiple nuclei.

The same group of neurons encode both actual motion and movement perceived in an optical illusion, according to a study on macaques.

Zebrafish detect water movement around them through signals sent to the brain by cells containing tiny hairs.

A mollusk grows magnetic teeth so tough they can grind down rocks.  

Under UV light, flying squirrels give off a rosy glow.

New research shows how they get their deep hue.

Human lung cancer cells can form an invasive pack that coordinates its movement during metastasis.  

Sea snakes wait in thirst for “lenses” of freshwater forming on the surface of the ocean after a heavy rain.

Genetic material left behind on flowers can reveal which insects have visited.

Pancreatic cells associated with cancer resemble celestial bodies as revealed by microscopy.