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Some people infected with the Zika virus may develop a rare neurological disorder that is similar to multiple sclerosis, a new study from Brazil suggests. The study reports two cases of people who were infected with the Zika virus and who later developed a condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). In people with this condition, the body's own immune system causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord, and damages the protective coating of nerve fibers called myelin. [Read More]

That's because the percussionist isn't a human, but a bird: the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) of Australia and New Guinea. The cockatoo is the only nonhuman animal on record to rhythmically drum with a customized "sound tool," but its reason for drumming isn't so different from that of many human musicians: These feathered Romeos are looking for love, the researchers found. During courtship, male cockatoos search for drumsticks, sometimes breaking a sturdy branch off a tree and trimming it down to about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length. [Read More]

Skipping breakfast and jumping straight into your morning workout may help you eat less throughout the day, a small new studysuggests. In the study, 12 physically active white men ages 18 to 23 arrived at the researchers' lab at 8 a.m., and were randomly given either oatmeal and orange juice, or no breakfast. Then, at 10 a.m., the men ran on a treadmill for an hour. A week later, the participants repeated the experiment, but the groups were switched — the men who had eaten breakfast in the previous experiment had no breakfast, and vice versa. [Read More]

A loud rumble, a scuffle and 33 long minutes of coordinated attacks by a female orangutan and her male partner led to the death of an older female orangutan in a Borneo forest, in what scientists say is the first incident of lethal aggression among orangutans ever observed by researchers. Female orangutans are not normally aggressive. They are solitary, and rarely engage in fights, according to primatologist Anna Marzec, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, who witnessed the event. [Read More]

Want others to think you're hot? Flashing them a gross picture of bodily fluids might work, a new study suggests. An important caveat, though -- the findings only held for those with symmetrical faces. The results suggest who people find attractive can change rapidly depending on simple details in the environment. Recent research showed that as the health of a nation worsened, women were more partial to more masculine faces. Perhaps, the scientists conjectured, in environments where health was a bigger concern, women might choose more masculine men, unconsciously making a mental trade-off between the potential costs (manly men have been shown to be dishonest and more interested in short-term flings) and benefits of greater masculinity (such as better health). [Read More]

Scientists discovered the crystal-encased microbes during an expedition to Joetsu Basin to sample gas hydrates — crystalline solids of gas and water that form in the ocean under high pressure and intense cold. They presented their findings in December at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). After the researchers examined massive hydrates collected at the sea bottom off Japan's western coast, they found that some of the hydrates contained tiny grains of a mineral called dolomite. [Read More]

DENVER — A complex surgery has saved the life of a captive Komodo dragon at the Denver Zoo. Anika, a 6-year-old female Komodo dragon, developed dystocia, a condition in which reptiles are unable to deposit their eggs. Dystocia is also called egg-binding, and it can be fatal for female lizards. Zoo staff first noticed that Anika's abdomen was swollen and that she'd lost weight, even though her appetite (and eating) had increased dramatically. [Read More]

The giant whale shark is an elusive quarry for study, especially when it comes to spotting the spotted sharks' mating and breeding. But a new analysis of rare whale shark embryos suggests that females may save up sperm after mating, queuing up multiple litters of the filter-feeding fish. The study, a genetic analysis of 29 embryos saved from a female whale shark caught near Taiwan in 1995, found that despite being in very different stages of development, all of the embryos had the same father. [Read More]

Pygmies of Borneo On the island of Borneo live pygmies of the elephant world. While other male Asian elephants can grow up to 9.8 feet (3 meters tall), male Borneo elephants grow to less than 8.2 feet (2.5 meters), according to the conservation organization WWF. These elephants also have larger ears, longer tails and more rotund bodies that give them a babyish appearance. Controversy surrounds their origins. Immigrants? Popular belief once held that Borneo elephants, which live only on the northeastern tip of the island, are the wild descendants of a domestic herd owned centuries ago by the Sultan of Sulu, who controlled the area. [Read More]