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Love letters that Marie Antoinette wrote to a Swedish count have been impossible to read because he added extra handwriting on top of hers – but now the original words have been deciphered with X-rays
Cats form strong bonds with their owners, but the scent of their human companions doesn’t comfort them when they’re left alone – and it could even make them howl more
Male acorn woodpeckers that share mates with their brothers live longer lives, have better quality homes and father more baby woodpeckers than those that choose a monogamous lifestyle
Samantha Leigh/California State Sharks have spiral-shaped intestines that work in a similar way to an unusual valve designed by Nikola Tesla. Studying their anatomy could help improve industrial fluid-pump technology. Most animals have tubular intestines that use muscle contractions to push food along like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. But sharks slowly channel their meals through spirals without needing muscles to push the food. Their intestines are also shaped in a way that only allows food to flow one way – like a performance-enhanced Tesla valve, says Samantha Leigh at California Stat...
Tierfotoagentur/D. Geithner/Alamy Domestic dogs are born to socialise with people because we bred them that way. Two-month-old puppies can already recognise when people are pointing at objects and will gaze at our faces when they’re spoken to – both signs that dogs have an innate capacity to interact with us through body language. Although individual relationships with people might influence that behaviour, at least 40 per cent of this ability comes from genetics alone, says Emily Bray at the University of Arizona. “Over the course of domestication, from wolf to dog, there’s been a cl...