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Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. You have probably seen leaf-cutter ants carrying bits of plants, maybe in a nature documentary, at a science museum or in the “Circle of Life” song at the beginning of the 1994 Disney animated film “The Lion King.” Those ants don’t eat the leaves — instead they bring them back to their nests to feed a [...]

About 800 million years ago (mya), before the supercontinent Pangea formed, the Earth was more diverse than classical theory suggests. By reconstructing the tree of life from the evolutionary history of amoebas and the ancestors of algae, fungi, plants and animals, Brazilian researchers have created a scenario in which several different lineages of many species inhabited the planet during the period. An article reporting their findings is published in Proceedings of the National [...]

According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago. This asteroid impact caused a global mass extinction but also created ideal conditions for fungi to thrive. Innovative ants began cultivating the fungi, creating an evolutionary partnership that became even more tightly intertwined 27 million years ago and continues to this day.

Scientists who exposed pregnant rats to a synthetic cannabinoid that activates the same receptors in the brain as marijuana detected effects of the drug on their offspring, such as cardiovascular problems in females and augmented susceptibility to panic attacks in males, and showed that these adverse effects persisted into adulthood. An article on the study is published in the American Journal of Physiology – Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. The findings serve as a [...]

When an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, it caused a mass extinction. Now researchers have evidence that this catastrophe ushered in the invention of agriculture by ants. “Extinction events can be huge disasters for most organisms, but it can actually be positive for others,” says Ted Schultz, curator of ants at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and senior author of the paper. “At the end of the Cretaceous, dinosaurs did not do very well, [...]

Ant agriculture started 66 million years ago as fungi experienced “a heyday” in the aftermath of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, a new study suggests. Colonies of ants began farming the organisms after the event created ideal conditions for them to thrive, despite causing global mass extinction. Fungi are a group of organisms that include yeasts, mildews, moulds, and mushrooms. Ants have been practicing agriculture and fungus farming for much longer than humans [...]

The event that wiped out the dinosaurs wasn't all bad. The low-light environment caused by the meteor impact some 66 million years ago favored the spread of fungi that feed on organic matter, which was abundant at the time as plants and animals were dying in droves. It was the perfect opportunity for the ancestor of a group of ants to start cultivating these microorganisms, according to a study published on October 3 in the journal  Science. "The origin of [...]

Scientists who exposed pregnant rats to a synthetic cannabinoid that activates the same receptors in the brain as marijuana detected effects of the drug on their offspring, such as cardiovascular problems in females and augmented susceptibility to panic attacks in males, and showed that these adverse effects persisted into adulthood. An article on the study is published in the American Journal of Physiology – Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. The findings serve as a [...]

When humans began farming crops thousands of years ago, agriculture had already been around for millions of years. In fact, several animal lineages have been growing their own food since long before humans evolved as a species.   According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago. This impact caused a global mass extinction but also created ideal conditions for fungi to thrive. Innovative ants began cultivating the fungi, [...]