Bubble, Bubble, Toil, and Trouble: Deep-sea ghost shark evolved a sixth sense

Rising from the depths of the sea, bubbles signal trouble: a confrontation between a predator and its prey. A relatively unexplored and mysterious place, the deep-sea hosts creatures that have adapted to the darkness and silence of the ocean’s floor for hundreds of millions of years. Spending so much time in these harsh conditions has forced the ghost shark to develop a sixth sense – the ability to detect changes in the electromagnetic field. Scientists are starting to uncover this ghostly tale, but much of this story remains a mystery.

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A Tale of Two Fungi: Wheat Rust and Its Parasite

Wheat is crucial to the global food supply. However, pathogenic fungi, such as rusts, can destroy wheat crops by depleting nutrients. In order to reduce damage caused by rusts, biological control measures are under investigation. Here, we see evidence that another fungus can actually prey on the rust fungus, reducing the rust’s ability to cause disease in wheat.

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Soft Manatee, Warm Manatee? Understanding How Manatees Behave

Antillean manatees are an endangered subspecies of manatee that live in the warm waters of the Caribbean, but little is known about their behavior, both in the wild and under human care. This is why scientists in France set out to better understand and define manatee behavior in captivity, identifying how bold or shy they were and how they acted towards novel and familiar stimuli.

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