swarm

Dive Into a Writhing Swarm of Sardines With This Astounding Penguin Footage

by

Sardines scatter wildly as a smooth penguin head zooms through their tight swirling mass within blue-green waters of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s footage. One of those silver sardines becomes the penguin’s dinner on the second swoop through.   Taken in the Beagle Channel off Isla Martillo, Argentina, the penguin bodycam footage helped clarify the bird’s … Read more

Mutant Bacteria Accidentally Recreated One of Van Gogh’s Most Iconic Paintings

by

The line between art and science is sometimes a swirly one. Researchers studying a social bacterium that moves and feeds in coordinated swarms have unintentionally recreated something that looks a lot like a familiar masterpiece.   When a certain gene is overexpressed in a bacterium known as Myxococcus xanthus, the individual organisms self-organize into tiny circular … Read more