Not that they need any help, but HBO’s “The Last of Us” has made mushrooms cooler than ever, thanks to the prominent role a parasitic fungus plays in the collapse of society. The creators of the TV ...

In tropical forests around the world, a group of parasitic fungi has evolved one of nature’s most unsettling survival strategies: it infects an insect, seizes control of its behavior, and turns the ...

I have never really been interested in ghosts, mummies or zombies, not even at Halloween. But as October 31 approaches each year, I am reminded of a biological tale involving all three. It's the ...

In nature, spores of Cordyceps mushrooms infect insects and sprout into fruiting bodies, killing the insects in their feeding frenzy. Despite the mushroom’s gruesome eating habits, the medicinal ...

Just in time for Halloween, scientists in Korea say they’ve found a better way to grow an insect-destroying mushroom in the lab. Their work could make studying these fungi easier, which is important, ...

What if an insect could remain alive while slowly losing control of its own body? Instead of being killed by a predator, imagine something invading it, changing its behavior, and using it as part of a ...

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TL;DR: Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology developed the world's lightest insect brain controller, enabling precise electronic control of bee flight for scouting and disaster relief. This ...