杏吧原创

Animals

Mind

Test your brain on these mind-bending scientific riddles

A bizarre Christmas dinner invitation, some mysterious carol singers and even a spot of charades. Can you solve all 12 of our unique festive riddles?

Features

Life

Dinosaurs like Diplodocus may have been as colourful as birds

News
Two hands holding three clams on a beach

Environment

The surprising longevity lessons from the world鈥檚 oldest animal

Features

Life

Images reveal the astonishing complexity of the microscopic world

Regulars

Life

Tigers seem to be bouncing back in remote Sumatran jungle

News
Overall winner Mesmerizing spider threads The image shows two exceptional silk threads of the Australian netcaster spider, Asianopis subrufa. Unlike typical web-builders, this spider holds a specialized, sticky net between its four front legs. When an unsuspecting insect approaches, the spider rapidly expands its net and casts it over the prey, a maneuver that demands dramatic extensibility from the supporting lines at the sides of the sticky net. These threads are composed of an elastomeric core encased in a sheath of harder fibers of varying sizes; the result is a structure that is both strong and stretchy. The mesmerizing, looping fibers in the image capture the eye with their meandering fiber bundles, which shift in their complex winding from large to small scales. The image covers 50 microns in width and was captured using a Zeiss GeminiSEM 360 field-emission scanning electron microscope under high vacuum and after coating of Au-Pd. Minimal adjustments of curves and cropping were applied via Adobe Photoshop. Martin J. Ramirez Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales - CONICET "Jonas Wolff, Greifswald University. Website: https://zoologie.uni-greifswald.de/struktur/abteilungen/erc-junior-research-group-evolutionary-biomechanics/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/evoimec.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evoimec/ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/lab/EVOMEC-Macro-Evolution-Comparative-Biomechanics-and-Biomaterials-Jonas-O-Wolff" Royal Society Photography Competition 2025 overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Mart?n J. Ram?rez. Sample obtained by Jonas Wolff.

Life

Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize

News

Life

Stop treating your pet like a fur baby 鈥� you’re damaging its health

Comment

Life

Cats can overcome fear of water to benefit from aquatic therapy

News

Life

Origin story of domestic cats rewritten by genetic analysis

News

Life

Pandas use tools to scratch thanks to a strange evolutionary quirk

Captive giant pandas have been seen breaking off twigs and bamboo pieces to scratch hard-to-reach spots, using a crude opposable thumb that other bears don鈥檛 have

News

Life

‘Horrific and beautiful’ whale rescue image wins photography prize

Regulars

Life

Sperm’s evolutionary origins go back before multicellular animals

News

Life

Extinct animals in Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age make it a must-watch

Culture

Life

Ancient tracks may record stampede of turtles disturbed by earthquake

News