Pliosaurs - a group of plesiosaurs - reached great sizes much earlier than previously thought, according to research by an international team of scientists including a researcher from the Polish Academy of Sciences. The discovery sheds new light on the course of the evolution of the huge marine predators.

The insectivorous sundew helps scientists destroy the 'armour' that protects bacteria from antibiotics. Even the most resistant bacteria on catheters or dressing materials have a much lower chance of growing and lose their antibiotic-resistant coating when treated with an extract from selected plants.

Scientists have discovered a new species of fungus, Formicomyces microglobosus. It was isolated from the infrabuccal pouch of the red wood ant Formica polyctena, a population of which lives in the forests near Warsaw.

In the early stage of pregnancy, the dialogue between the developing embryo and the mother is one of the key factors determining the success of the embryo implantation process in the uterus. Scientists from the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn have discovered another relationship that helps to understand this complicated process.

Polish researchers from the University of Warsaw and the Polish Academy of Sciences have explained the mysterious coexistence of animal and plant forms in the environment of coastal sea shallows from approximately 427 million years ago.

The areas of present-day south-eastern Poland used to be covered by a shallow sea. But apart from fossil fish, invertebrates and plants, bird remains are also sometimes found. Thanks to these few officially known finds, we know that species related to today's passerines, as well as grouses, hoopoes, hawks and... hummingbirds lived here.

Due to climate change, there are fewer and fewer amphibians in the world. Salamanders are facing extinction - two out of five will die, and the disastrous statistics may be worsened by a new disease emerging in the United States and Europe, says a study conducted by over 100 scientists, including researchers from the University of Łódź.

Scientists from the Alfred Jahn Cold Regions Research Centre of the University of Wrocław (UWr) are investigating places with a high risk of future tsunami waves. Scientists plan to prepare recommendations for local communities on how to mitigate the effects of geohazards connected to climate change.

Scientists have proven that 800-year-old pedunculate oaks can be multiplicated by the in vitro cloning method. Previously, this was only possible for up to 300 years old oaks. Their work will enable the preservation and protection of the genetic resources of valuable specimens growing in Poland.