Nightjars need wings for slow insect hunting and long-distance migration. In a wind tunnel, Christoffer Johansson & colleagues found that broad wingtips likely aid slow flight, while lift becomes less efficient at higher speeds. doi.org/10.1371/jour... #Biology #Flight #Migration Photo: A Hedenström

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A touch can trigger a plant’s molecular response within 60 seconds. In Arabidopsis, Olivier Van Aken and his colleagues identified a MAP kinase cascade linking touch to changes in gene activity and growth. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s414... #PlantBiology #Research

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Climate change is reshaping butterfly ranges worldwide. A global study found that 80% of 1,758 species in its dataset had expanded their ranges. @larspett.bsky.social and colleagues combined 6,182 reports from 105 countries. doi.org/10.1038/s415... #Biodiversity #ClimateChange #Ecology

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Nearly 55,000 RNA viruses were identified across urban and peri-urban environments in 102 cities; 77% had not been observed before. Eran Elhaik and colleagues helped build the global atlas from 2,922 metatranscriptomes. doi.org/10.1038/s414... #RNAvirus #Virology #Microbiology

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Small eyes can deliver sharp vision. Elisa Rigosi and colleagues found that the blue-banded bee Amegilla murrayensis can detect objects as well as much larger honeybee drones. They recorded signals directly from photoreceptors. doi.org/10.1073/pnas... youtu.be/JSnXLZ1zk5g?...

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