worms

19 Stories

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does
Got Milk? This
Amphibian Does
NEW STUDY
Mar 8, 2024 9:18 AM CST

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does

Scientists say wormlike caecilians offer this surprising sustenance to their young, like mammals

(Newser) - Researchers already knew that baby ringed caecilians, a wormlike amphibian that lives burrowed underneath the earth, gain some of their nutrition by feeding on the skin of their own mother once or twice a week. But when a team out of Brazil studying the creature (also known as Siphonops annulatus)...

After 46K Years, Possibly Extinct Worm Awoke, Reproduced
Worm Took
46K-Year Nap,
Then Woke Up
and Got Busy
NEW STUDY
Jul 28, 2023 4:05 PM CDT

Worm Took 46K-Year Nap, Then Woke Up and Got Busy

It's the longest recorded period of cryptobiosis in nematodes by far

(Newser) - Scientists have revived a possibly extinct microscopic worm that survived in Siberian permafrost for nearly 50,000 years. Nematodes, better known as roundworms, were found inside a fossilized squirrel burrow some 130 feet underground near Siberia's Kolyma River in 2002, per the Wall Street Journal . Scientists successfully resuscitated the...

Caterpillar Saliva Could Be Potent Weapon in Plastic Fight

Researchers envision at-home degradation kits using enzymes found in wax worm drool

(Newser) - Five years after wax worms were found to consume the world's most commonly produced plastic, scientists have lost none of their optimism in touting the caterpillar larvae of wax moths as a potential solution to our growing problem of plastic waste. Indeed, new research finds the larvae's saliva...

California's New Scourge: Creepy Jumping Worms
Destructive Jumping Worms
Are Now in California
in case you missed it
May 28, 2022 10:45 AM CDT

Destructive Jumping Worms Are Now in California

They were spotted in the state in July, and they have ecologists worried

(Newser) - It sounds like a decent setup for a horror movie: an area plagued with "extremely active, aggressive" worms that can jump a foot into the air and have "voracious appetites." That's a reality California is staring down right now, according to multiple reports on recent sightings...

Tarantula Breeder's Call Led to Discovery of New Species

Of worm, that is

(Newser) - Having a new species of worm named after you may not seem like the highest honor, but in the case of Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi, it's a worm that comes with a cinematic edge. This particular species of nematode is a tarantula-killer, hence its name, which is a nod to the...

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity
After Her Trail Run,
a Gross Medical Rarity
new study
Nov 4, 2019 8:57 AM CST

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity

Woman is 2nd person to have parasitic worms show up in her eyes

(Newser) - A 68-year-old US woman has earned a very unwanted distinction: She is just the second human on record to show up at the doctor's office with parasitic eye worms more common to cows, reports Live Science . The unidentified woman splits her time between Nebraska and California, and researchers explain...

It Was Hanging in Her Kitchen. She Found Out It's Worth Millions
It Was Hanging
in Her Kitchen.
She Found Out It's
Worth Millions
in case you missed it
Sep 28, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

It Was Hanging in Her Kitchen. She Found Out It's Worth Millions

Elderly French woman's 'Christ Mocked' by Renaissance painter Cimabue could go for $6.6M

(Newser) - An elderly French woman had the painting hanging above a hot plate in her kitchen, thinking it was just an old piece of art. When she finally got curious enough to get it appraised, she found out it was indeed old—and extremely valuable. That's because, per an old-masters...

After BMJ Shares Cheeky Photos, Embarrassed Couple Butts In
They Were Treated
for a Parasite.
Then Their Butts
Were Everywhere
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 4, 2018 12:15 PM CST

They Were Treated for a Parasite. Then Their Butts Were Everywhere

'BMJ' withdraws journal article after embarrassed patients complain about the exposure

(Newser) - After suffering painful red rashes on their backsides, a husband and wife were left red in the face—so much so that a case study of their ordeal has now been pulled from the prestigious British Medical Journal. As BMJ tells the Washington Post , the British pair whose bottoms became...

'I Looked at It. It Was Moving' Woman Pulls Worms From Eyes

Oregon woman plagued by parasite that plagues cattle

(Newser) - An Oregon woman who had worms coming out of her eye is being called the first known human case of a parasitic infection spread by flies. Fourteen tiny worms were removed from the left eye of the 26-year-old woman in August 2016. Scientists reported the case Monday. The woman, Abby...

Doc Doubts Man's Tapeworm. Then He Looks in the Bag

Sushi-loving man pulls 5-foot-6-inch tapeworm out of his butt

(Newser) - For a sushi-loving California man, there was good news and bad news. The good news: That pale string dangling out of his butt wasn't his intestines. It was, however, a very long worm. This particularly disgusting cautionary tale comes from a Jan. 8 episode of the medical podcast This ...

Germany Considers Sale of Parasitic Worm Eggs ... as Food

Thousands of people around the world already take them

(Newser) - Let's get one thing straight: Parasitic worms can and do cause serious problems in the animals they infect, and it's largely seen as a good thing that most humans in wealthier nations don't have to deal with them. Hookworms, for instance, cause anemia, diarrhea, and pain, while...

Huge-Jawed Worm Species Terrorized Fish 400M Years Ago

The new species was discovered in storage at a Canadian museum

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a giant worm—no, not this guy —that terrorized fish, octopuses, and squids with its comparatively massive jaws 400 million years ago. UPI reports the fossil was dug up at Canada's Kwataboahegan Formation back in the mid-1990s and had been in storage at the Royal...

Girl's 'Appendicitis' Turns Out to Be Worms

Doctors got quite the surprise during her appendectomy

(Newser) - A teenager in the UK who showed up at a hospital's pediatric unit complaining of stomach pain ended up getting an appendectomy—but it was something else entirely that had caused her distress, per an article in BMJ Case Reports . Doctors weren't 100% sure that the 15-year-old had...

Creatures Grow Heads, Brains of Other Species
Creatures Grow Heads,
Brains of Other Species
new study
Nov 29, 2015 3:53 PM CST

Creatures Grow Heads, Brains of Other Species

Flatworms regenerate in shocking ways

(Newser) - Worms can grow the head and brain of another species? Then maybe we can do better at regenerating our own organs and tissues. That's the thrust of a new study by researchers who got flatworms to grow the heads of other flatworm species without any alteration to the worms'...

Texas Town Has Tiny Red Worms in Water Supply

No one's explained yet where they came from

(Newser) - Residents of the Woodland Acres Subdivision started filtering in to Old River-Winfree city offices on Monday evening, clutching containers of water filled with tiny red worms (shown in the video here )—worms they say came out of their faucets, sprinklers, and showers, the Houston Chronicle reports. And although the...

Eureka! Navigation Clue Found in a Worm's Brain
Eureka! Navigation Clue Found in a Worm's Brain
study says
Jun 17, 2015 7:10 PM CDT

Eureka! Navigation Clue Found in a Worm's Brain

Scientists discover first-ever magnetic sensor in an animal

(Newser) - A tiny find in a worm-sized brain could give scientists a far greater understanding of how animals use the Earth's magnetic field, phys.org reports. In a lab at the University of Austin in Texas, certain hungry worms were found to move down in gelatin-filled tubes, perhaps in their...

How 'Pygmy' People's Rampant Pot Use Protects Them

May lower rates of infection by parasitic intestinal worms: study

(Newser) - Marijuana was a painkiller in ancient Egypt and an anesthetic in ancient China and Taiwan, Medical Daily reports. Now, an anthropologist says the Aka foragers of the Central African Republic may be unconsciously using the plant to ward off parasitic intestinal worms. Ed Hagen of Washington State University Vancouver surveyed...

How Worm Lizards Managed to Get Across the Oceans

Ancient creatures apparently surfed on plant matter

(Newser) - You may not be familiar with worm lizards, but they've actually done quite well for themselves: The 180 living species of amphisbaenians, as they're called, live on five continents, Nature World News reports, and they've been around for a very, very long time. So long, in fact,...

Invasive Worm Threatens French Cuisine

It could wipe out all the snails in Europe, warns new report

(Newser) - Devotees of French cuisine love their snails. Unfortunately, a slimy and highly invasive flatworm newly discovered in France finds them quite tasty, too, reports AFP . How invasive? "All snails in Europe could be wiped out," says Jean-Lou Justine of the National Museum of History in France. In other...

19 Stories