Animals

  1. Animals

    What medicine can learn from squid teeth

    Scientists have identified what makes a squid's sucker teeth so strong. The findings may one day prove useful in medicine.

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  2. Animals

    Insects can patch their broken ‘bones’

    When insects suffer wounds, they can mend their ‘skeleton’ with a patch on the inside. This makes the leg strong again, new data show.

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  3. Animals

    Pollen can become bee ‘junk food’ as CO2 rises

    Increasing levels of the greenhouse gas are changing diminishing the food value of pollen, bees’ only source of protein.

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  4. Animals

    Spiders eat insects — and sometimes veggies

    Plant-eating spiders have been found on every continent except Antarctica, a new study notes.

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  5. Plants

    Less brilliant flowers still keep bees coming back

    Bumblebees prefer petals that aren’t overly shimmery. This suggests plants are attuned to what insects see.

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  6. Animals

    Cool Jobs: Pet science

    Pets make great subjects for research. These scientists work to make our animals — and us — healthier and happier.

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  7. Animals

    Parasites give brine shrimp super powers

    When infected with parasitic worms, brine shrimp survive better in waters laced with toxic arsenic, a new study finds.

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  8. Animals

    Picking a better porch light

    Lights can vary in brightness and ‘color’ — even those that are sold as white. A new study tested which lights attracted the most bugs.

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  9. Animals

    Roadkill : Learning from the dead

    Roadkill can be more than a smooshed-up carcass. Scientists study these highway casualties to learn more about wildlife and their environments.

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  10. Animals

    Picture This: Christmas tree worms

    The tops of Christmas tree worms look like brightly colored plants. But they are really boneless marine animals with eyes that can breathe and gills that can see.

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  11. Animals

    Picture This: Plesiosaurs swam like penguins

    A computer model suggests plesiosaurs — ancient marine reptiles — swam like penguins, using front flippers for power and back flippers for steering.

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  12. Animals

    Bugs that call your house home

    A survey of North Carolina homes found hundreds of species of insects, arachnids and other arthropods. Most, though, were harmless.

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