Animals
- Animals
Some fish wear an invisibility cloak
Some fish can hide in open water. How? Tiny crystals in their scales and skin help them reflect and blend in with polarized light.
By Ilima Loomis - Animals
Picture This: Rare tiger becomes mom
Zolushka is the first Amur tiger to be reintroduced to the wild and have cubs. She are her two young were caught on a camera trap.
- Ecosystems
As big animals poop out
Whales move nutrients from deep ocean to surface waters. From there, nutrients move to land and fertilize continents. But the system is in trouble.
- Brain
Cool Jobs: Getting in your head
Experimental psychologists study animals and people to understand the roots of behavior.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Quoll
This small marsupial is about the size of a housecat. It lives in Australia and New Guinea, where it is under threat from toxic toads.
- Animals
Elephants’ trunks: These leaf-blowers snag food
Researchers at a Japanese zoo filmed two elephants using their trunks as leaf-blowers, pulling food toward them with puffs of air.
- Oceans
Scientists identify plankton from space
Plankton are often too tiny for our eyes to see. But when huge numbers bloom at once, they now can be ID’d from space, a new study shows.
- Animals
Profile: A human touch for animals
Temple Grandin uses her own autism to understand how animals think. The animal scientist is famous for fostering the humane treatment of livestock.
- Genetics
Taking attendance with eDNA
Environmental DNA, or eDNA, tells biologists what species are in an area — even when they’re out of sight.
- Environment
Wildlife forensics turns to eDNA
Environmental DNA, or eDNA, tells biologists what species have been around — even when they’re out of sight or have temporarily moved on.
- Animals
Kangaroo farts: Not so ‘green’ after all?
Scientists had thought that kangaroo farts were environmentally friendly because they had little methane. That may not always be true.
- Genetics
Gene editing creates buff beagles
Scientists showed that a potentially useful new gene-editing tool can work in dogs. It created a pair of adorable, muscular puppies. But the goal is to use it for other research purposes.