Marine biologists believe they have discovered several new species of underwater creatures, including sponges, corals and sea stars

A little green frog is causing big problems across Hawaii, where the coqui has become the latest invasive species to get a strong foothold. But Hawaii may be the only place experiencing a surging frog population. Around the world, frogs are dying in droves from a fungus called a chytrid. What can we...

Last week, after 17 years of secrecy, scientists announced they had found the oldest example of the human lineage. Her name is Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus, and she is a 4.4 million year old fossil. Ardi was found in the famous Rift Valley of Ethiopia, where other fossils, like Lucy were discovered....

A Yeast Cell with Synthetic Genes, courtesy of Dr. Pamela Silver, Harvard Medical School Life is often stranger than fiction. But the direction that biology is heading, synthetic life could be stranger than science fiction. The emerging field of synthetic biology is moving closer and closer to creating...

Amy Wright Collects Samples While Diving, courtesy of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University Cures to the most mundane and deadly illnesses have been found deep in the jungles, high in the mountains and hidden in the rainforests. But until recently not many scientists were...

Watch the video Deep Sea Adventure In Caribbean Coral Reefs. Deep sea coral reefs found just several decades ago off the United States’ southeastern coast hold promise for the discoveries of new species and cures for cancer and other diseases. But the reefs may face danger from energy exploration–whether...

A new fossil in the ever-growing list of incremental species that outline the history of human evolution may not be the missing link after all. A week after Ida’s debut on the paleontological scene, scientists are taking a closer look at her place in our phylogenetic map. A new documentary on...

Pygmy Tarsier, Sept. 2008, courtesy of Sharon Gursky-Doyen, Texas A&M. They look like the animated robots, called Furbys, from the 1990s. And, they could be mistaken for the fictional gremlins. But pygmy tarsiers are real. And, much to the surprise of many scientists, they are not extinct. They...

Mystery jellyfish at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, courtesy of the Mareano Program The deep sea is about as understood and explored as outer space. And, it is home to alien lifeforms that look otherworldly. An international research team is sailing back from an expedition to the bottom...

Orange, speckled nudibranch, courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanogrpahy, UCSD How would you like to see a sea creature with your name? The Scripps Oceanographic Institute is allowing donors to name some newly discovered ocean animals and fish. If the price is right, a sea slug could get your...

zebrastripe-frogfish.jpg A new family of anglerfish might be added to the history books. The new species of frog fish, as they are commonly known, is found around Indonesian coral reefs. It looks like something you’d see in the mind of glass artist Dale Chihuly. With its flat face and wrinkled...

Steven Hutcheson, professor of cell biology and molecular genetics and president and CEO of Zymetis Inc. (right), and Ben Woodard, (left), director of the UMd Mtech Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility. A super synthesizing microbe is turning trash into gold. Or at least sugar which can be refined into biofuel....

A census of life at the bottom of Southern Ocean near Antarctica is revealing odd creatures — ranging from new fish, glass-like sea creatures called tunicates and giant sea spiders. After a recent 20-day collection trip, scientists announced that 25% of the animals they found were new to science.