2 entries tagged biology. All writing.
TECHNOLOGY · SEPTEMBER 26, 2026 Two Sea Spiders Nobody Had Named in Nearly a Hundred Years A University of British Columbia master's thesis turns up two sea spider species new to science in the Salish Sea — the first described there in almost a century — including a red-eyed, three-lipped species named for the hairy spines on its legs, found on scientific dives to 18 metres and confirmed with DNA barcoding. TECHNOLOGY · SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 The Calling Card in a Cat's Kidneys Cat kidneys are stuffed with fat droplets, and nobody has known why for about 110 years. A study in Current Biology reports the answer: they are a reservoir for thirteen branched-chain fatty acids whose exact mix differs from cat to cat, holds steady within one animal, and survives on the ground for at least a day — a chemical calling card. Then the obvious follow-up, which has a real and complicated literature: do people have one too, and could you identify someone from it?