It has been 28 years since Chernobyl's nuclear power plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown in Ukraine. People are still not permitted to live near it because radiation levels remain dangerous, but plants and animals long ago pioneered the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. A new study revealed surprising hints that certain birds' internal biological tactics cope well with the harmful radiation.

How do fish that can see make the switch to blind cavefish, and should that process really be called “evolution”? This transformation fascinates biologists. Picture the scene—a normal-looking fish lays normal-looking eggs, but its hatchlings look like something from science fiction. Thin, pale-pink skin covers not just their bodies but their shrunken eye sockets as well.
 

What is the best way to shed water? Researchers writing in the journal Nature recently published some amazing water-repelling results that mimic butterfly wings’ tiny scales.¹ These insects’ wings resist water with a marvelous efficiency that could inspire better design in everything from textiles to windfarms and even aircraft engines.

Pesticide companies used to sell concoctions of poison mixed with sugar in attempts to control cockroaches. The sugar would attract the insects and the poison would kill them. At least, that was the initial idea.