Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). This is possible by a trick the sharks apply: they can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball. The minute scales […]

A female Anopheles mosquito acts as a deadly hypodermic, injecting the malaria parasite when she feeds on human blood. Nearly half a billion people get malaria each year. More than a million die. After decades of neglect, the world is renewing its fight against the disease. Color-synthesizing scanning electron microscope image by David Scharf. Copyrighted […]