All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
These songbirds can fling and shake mice to death
Loggerhead shrikes skewer small animals on barbed wire and give mice a serious shake-up.
- Animals
Where did all of those king penguins go?
Île aux Cochons in the southern Indian Ocean was once home to the largest known colony of king penguins. Most of those birds are now gone and no one knows why.
- Animals
Here’s how a clam can hide within a rock
Old boring clam research has been upended after 82 years.
- Animals
These caterpillars are scaring the city of London
The fluffy-haired larvae of the oak processionary moth have a curious behavior, moving in neat, little lines. But the caterpillars pose threats to trees and human health.
- Animals
Chemicals from the world’s longest animal can kill cockroaches
The stuff in this sea worm’s slime can kill off green crabs, too.
- Life
Fighting ‘like an animal’ may not be what you expect
Evolution has produced a broad range of conflict styles. And some of the best examples come from outside the world of the familiar.
- Environment
Light at night lengthens how long birds can spread West Nile virus
Light at night prolongs the time it takes these birds to knock out a West Nile infection. Mosquitoes that bite them during this time can pick up and spread their virus to others — even people.
- Animals
Killer whale blows a raspberry, says ‘hello’
Orcas can mimic a range of sounds, including human speech — sort of.
- Animals
Tricky turns give prey a chance against lions and cheetahs
A bonanza of running data on wild predators shows that a successful hunt requires more than sprinting.
- Plants
Blooms on ‘chocolate’ tree are crazy-hard to pollinate
The cacao trees must be pollinated or those seeds that give us chocolate will never form. The rub: The trees’ flowers challenge all but some of the tiniest pollen-moving insects.
- Animals
Blowflies keep their cool with drool
Personal air conditioning the blowfly way: Dangle a droplet of saliva and then swallow it.
- Animals
Sucking blood isn’t an easy life, even for vampires
Real vampires include bats, insects and even birds. And they’ve had to develop novel ways of dealing with a diet of blood.
