Animals
- Animals
Scientists Say: Extremophile
Some species can survive high heat, freezing cold or other extreme environments. Scientists call these organisms extremophiles.
- Tech
Underwater robot vacuums up lionfish
Lionfish damage coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. A new underwater robot hunts, stuns and captures the bullies with help from a human operator.
- Animals
How the house mouse found its home
Once people started settling down 15,000 years ago, a mouse species followed them indoors. The animals didn’t need people to be farming and storing food.
- Animals
Nighttime lights can dim a firefly’s flash
Fireflies blink to attract mates. But when it’s too bright at night, the insects may stay away.
- Animals
Toss and slap — how dolphins disarm a dangerous meal
Octopus can be a deadly meal, especially if you don’t have hands to cut it up. But dolphins in Australia have figured out how to eat octopus without choking to death.
- Animals
These killer whales exhale sickening germs
A group of endangered killer whales are exhaling disease-causing germs. Researchers worry these microbes could make the animals sick.
- Health & Medicine
Flu fighter found in frog slime
A protein found in the mucus secretions of an Indian frog can take down a type of flu virus, a new study finds.
- Fossils
Scientists are rethinking the dinosaur family tree
The dinosaur family tree consists of three main branches. Or maybe not. A new study suggests a rewrite is due.
- Animals
Industrious badger caught burying an entire cow
Badgers are known to bury small animals. That allows them to save a meal for future dining. Now researchers have caught them caching something much bigger: young cows.
- Brain
Among mice, scratching is catching — as in contagious
Contagious itching spreads by sight, mouse-to-mouse. Scientists have now identified brain structures behind this phenomenon.
- Animals
Wild elephants sleep for only two hours at night
New measurements suggest that wild elephants may need less sleep than any other mammal.
- Animals
Frog’s gift of grab comes from saliva and squishy tissue
What puts the grip in a frog’s high-speed strike? Quick-change saliva and a super-soft tongue, scientists find.
