Animals

Pufferfish Create Underwater Crop Circles When They Mate

There is a chance that it's only the fine sand the females are after, not the formations' intricate patterns or symmetry

Centipede Venom Is a More Potent Pain Killer Than Morphine

Of the nine possible sodium ion channels the centipede venom could have affected, it happened to correspond with just the right one for numbing pain

These Jellyfish-Mulching Robots Could Be the Savior of the Seas

These new robots can chew up nearly a ton of jellyfish per hour

How Do Canada Geese Get Ready to Fly?

In the movie Fly Away home that involved a goose shaped plane, but in the wild it's just a few flicks of the neck.

A calcified flamingo, preserved by the highly basic waters of Tanzania’s Lake Natron and photographed by Nick Brandt

This Alkaline African Lake Turns Animals into Stone

Photographer Nick Brandt captures haunting images of calcified animals, preserved by the extreme waters of Tanzania's Lake Natron

257,000 Years Ago, a Hyena Ate Some Human Hair (And Probably the Rest of the Person, Too)

The brown hyena who originally planted the evidence most likely ate the person, though it could have scavenged on a dead body

These Mice Sing to Mark Their Territory

A lot of things sing to mark their territory - birds, wolves, howler monkeys. But you can now add mice to that list

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Early Easter Islanders Ate Rats—Lots of Rats

Perhaps the lack of fish food even explains the orientation of Easter Island's famous statues, which face inwards toward the islanders' food source

What We Can Learn from Whale Breath

Researchers are trying to culture what comes out of blowholes from whales and dolphins, to see if they can use them as diagnostic tools

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The CIA’s Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren’t Even Human

As a former trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries

Giant Hornets Proliferated During China’s Heatwave, And Now Have Killed 28 People

Entomologists speculate that the exceptionally warm weather in China allowed the aggressive, deadly hornets to proliferate

Water submerged tracts of this Thai forest, cutting off one part from another and creating forest islands.

When a Dam Turned a Forest Into Tiny Islands, Only Rats Were Happy

Although the rate of extinction the researchers observed is startling, it's unfortunately not surprising

Coastal Animals Have Two Internal Clocks, One for the Sun And One for the Tide

When researchers tamped with sea lice's internal clocks, the crustaceans were unruffled by the unwinding of their circadian cycles

A green sea turtle

Sea Turtles Are Nesting in Record Numbers

Once pushed to endangerment, nesting sea turtle numbers are soaring

Osmia chalybea, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia

Bee-utiful! The Stinging Insect Gets a Close-Up

Biologist Sam Droege's sharply-focused photographs of bees, used for identifying different species, make for fine art

Rolly-polly trilobite

Meet the First Creature Ever to Roll Up in a Ball for Self-Defense

A species of tiny trilobite has taken the ball-rolling champion lead by millions of years

These Tattoos Honor Lost, Not-So-Loved Species

To overcome how people tend to care only about cute endangered animals, Samantha Dempsey designed and distributed temporary tattoos of ugly extinct species

Eagle versus deer

A Wild Golden Eagle Can Take Down a Deer Just As Well As a Trained One

Besides being cool images, the behavior captured on the camera trap is extremely rare for Golden Eagles in nature

Britain’s Building a Transportation Network Just for Bees (And Other Pollinators)

The idea is to provide passage for insects that play a role in maintaining an estimated 90 percent of Britain's greenery and crops through pollination

The University of Coimbra’s grand old Biblioteca Joanina houses both books and bats.

Bats Act As Pest Control at Two Old Portuguese Libraries

It's not clear how long the bats have been doing this important job

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