Traffic jams are a frustrating part of modern life, and many dream of the kind of uncongested roadway systems shown in futuristic movies like Minority Report. But some researchers have suggested that ideal traffic management algorithms already exist—in ants.

The last of a type of wild mountain goat was found dead in the mountains of northern Spain in 2000. The Pyrenean ibex, characterized by its curved horns, was officially declared extinct, but not before tissue samples were collected and preserved in liquid nitrogen.

Phosphorus, number 15 on the periodic table of elements, is considered a basic component of all cell membranes. But the recent discovery of single-celled photosynthetic organisms surviving without the chemical element in their membranes is going to require some major rewrites to biochemistry textbooks.¹

Certain strains of bacteria, named Vibrio, can establish a mutually beneficial link with a squid by a single gene switch, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin.¹ Could this precisely specified biochemistry really have evolved from the comparatively “simple” switching-on of just one gene, as their study suggests?

A recent issue of New Scientist contained a series of articles that explored “The Six Biggest Mysteries of Our Solar System.” One article posed the question, “How was the solar system built?”¹ “Built” is a good word, considering the solar system contains an array of features that appear precisely orchestrated.