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Pollination is a hallmark of flowering plants, with animal pollinators such as bees and birds sustaining the world’s food supply – not to mention our cravings for coffee, honey and macadamia nuts. But new research raises the possibility that animal-assisted pollination may have appeared in the ocean long before plants moved ashore. The study, carried out by a research group based in France and Chile, is the first to document a species of seaweed that relies on tiny marine crustaceans speckled in pollen-like spores to reproduce. Since red algae Gracilaria gracilis evolved long before land plants appeared, the researchers say their research suggests animal-assisted pollination could have occurred about 650 million years ago in the oceans once a suitable pollinator appeared. On land in flowering plants and gymnosperms that have seeds, the male reproductive cells, or gametes, fly in the form of pollen grains, which are carried by the wind, through the water, or by surprise insects, t...

Penguins are no strangers to climate change. Their life history has been shaped by fluctuations in temperature, and their bodies are highly specialized for some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. However, scientists fear the penguin’s evolutionary path may have stalled, thanks to the lowest evolutionary rate ever detected in birds. An international team of researchers has just published one of the most comprehensive studies on penguin evolution to date, which is the first to integrate data from living and fossil penguin species. The research reveals a general chaotic penguin life history, with three-quarters of all known penguin species – now represented only by fossils – already extinct. “Over 60 million years, this iconic bird has evolved into a highly specialized marine predator, and is now well-adapted in some of the most extreme environments on Earth,” the authors wrote. “However, as their evolutionary history reveals, they now stand as guardians high...

With more turbo power and a six-speed manual gearbox, the new Honda Civic Type R is the fastest – and will likely be the last with a pure petrol engine. 0 It Honda Civic Type R 2023 has been revealed at last, ahead of an Australian launch scheduled for early next year. Known to fans and insiders alike as the ‘FL5’, the Civic Type R only comes 25 years after the original – and may be the last to be exclusively petrol-powered, as Honda’s global models shift to hybrid and, eventually, electric power. The arrival of the Australian showroom will begin early next year. Pricing has yet to be confirmed, though a sticker near $65,000 or $70,000 a drive – from $54,990 plus the old model’s on-road costs – is expected. Powering the new ‘FL5’ Type R is an extension of the upcoming ‘FK8’ model 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine what Honda promises is “even more powerful and responsive” than its 228kW/400Nm predecessor ...

Water boils a lot – whether it’s a cup of tea brewed in the kitchen or a power station that generates electricity. Any increase in the efficiency of this process will have a major impact on the overall amount of energy used for it each day. One such improvement could come with newly developed treatments for surfaces involved in heating and evaporating water. The treatment improves the two main parameters that determine the boiling process: heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux (CHF). Most of the time, there is a trade-off between the two – when one improves, the other worsens. After years of investigation, the research term behind this technique has found a way to improve both. “Both parameters are important, but raising the two parameters together is a bit tricky because they have an intrinsic trade-off,” said bioinformatics scientist Youngsup Song of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. “If we have a lot of bubbles on the...

Forced to spend their days slamming their tiny skulls into the sides of trees in search of buried pieces, woodpeckers should have developed a trick or two to avoid brain damage. So you would think. A new study of woodpecker biomechanics has cast doubt on speculation that the chisel-headed little bird avoided turning its brains to mush through a fancy shock-absorbing adaptation. On the other hand, his brain may be too small to care. “By analyzing high-speed video of three woodpecker species, we found that woodpeckers do not absorb the shock of impact with trees,” said Sam Van Wassenbergh, a biomechanics researcher from the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Anyone who’s ever seen, or even just heard of, machine gun fire from the woodpecker’s signature beat will appreciate the physics involved. Snapping their heads back and forth at an astonishing 20 times per second, members of some species can experience forces of up to 1400 g. Compare that to the paltry 90 to 1...