Animals
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Animals
A single chemical may draw lonely locusts into a hungry swarm
Swarms of locusts can destroy crops. Scientists have discovered a chemical that might make locusts come together in huge hungry swarms.
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Animals
Some beetles can be eaten by a frog, then walk out the other end
After being eaten by a frog, some water beetles can scurry through the digestive tract and emerge on the other side — alive and well.
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Animals
Are coyotes moving into your neighborhood?
How do coyotes survive in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago? Researchers and citizen scientists are working together to find answers.
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Tech
Here’s the summer science you might have missed
From sizzling Siberia and ‘smart’ toilets, to new uses for astronaut pee, more than COVID-19 made news this summer.
By Janet Raloff -
Environment
Busy beavers may be speeding thaw of Arctic permafrost
As climate change continues, busy beavers are expanding their range in Alaska. Their dams could further speed the loss of permafrost there and promote local warming.
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Animals
Analyze This: Hurricanes may help lizards evolve better grips
Lizards have larger toepads in areas that tend to have higher hurricane activity. This suggests high winds select for those that can hang tight.
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Fossils
American crocs seem to descend from kin that crossed the Atlantic
A fossil hints that early crocodiles crossed over from Africa, millions of years ago, to colonize a new land.
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Animals
Viral scents? Dogs sniff out coronavirus in human sweat
Researchers train dogs to sniff out COVID-19. In the United Arab Emirates, sniffer dogs have already begun identifying infected passengers at airports.
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Animals
To figure out your dog’s ‘real’ age, you’ll need a calculator
What’s your dog’s human-equivalent age? Just multiply how old it is times seven, right? Uh, no. And here’s why.
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Animals
Superblack fish can disappear in the deep sea’s darkness
Some fish that live in the ocean’s depths are superblack due to a special layer of light-absorbing structures in their skin.
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Animals
Dolphins can learn from their peers how to use shells as tools
Some bottlenose dolphins seem to look to their peers, rather than mom, to learn how to trap prey in shells.
By Jack J. Lee -
Physics
Flying snakes wriggle their way through the air
Flying snakes go tens of meters (yards) without wings. They do it by undulating back and forth and up and down, a new study shows.