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Science / Wildlife

An experiment with corals taken from the warm waters of the U.S. National Park of American Samoa showed that at least one species can quickly adapt to rising heat.

New Research

This Coral Has Shown It Can Weather Warmer Waters

Corals are not expected to do well with climate change. But the ability to adapt to warmer oceans could give them more time

"Fellow hermit crab? I'll eat you up!"

New Research

Cannibalistic Hermit Crabs Salivate at the Smell of Their Dead

Instead of responding to the smell of a relative’s death as the sign that a predator could be about, hermit crabs interpret this cue as fresh dinner

Oil floats on the surface of Gulf waters in June 2010. Is it still there today?

Breaking Down the Myths and Misconceptions About the Gulf Oil Spill

Does oil stick around in the ecosystem indefinitely? What was the deal with the deformed fish? Can anything bad that happens in the Gulf be blamed on oil?

Female on top: A female Neotrogla insect mates with a male in a cave in eastern Brazil.

In This Community of Brazilian Cave Insects, Females Wear the Penises, Literally

A genus of insect that inhabits caves in eastern Brazil has reversed sex organs, say scientists

Mom's ample body serves as this baby's bed for now, but soon she'll grow up to build sleeping nests of her own.

New Research

Chimpanzees Are Extremely Picky About Where They Sleep

The primates painstakingly rebuild their nest from scratch every night—a pre-bed ritual reminiscent of the “Princess and the Pea”

Researchers say they've developed a system that allows them to use dolphins' own language to communicate with the animals.

Tech Watch

Checking the Claim: A Device That Translates Dolphin Sounds Into English

Researchers used new technology to interpret a dolphin noise they say translates loosely to “seaweed”

A coqui frog perches on a branch in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico

Chirps of Coqui Frogs May Be Getting Shorter and Higher Pitched As Climate Warms

The shift in duration and pitch could impede females’ ability to pick up on mating signals, researchers say

Desmarestia herbacea, acid kelp; Santa Cruz, CA; c. 1898; Collection: University Herbarium, UC Berkeley, CA

Art Meets Science

These Delicate Images of Seaweed Were Captured Using a Flatbed Scanner

In a new book, photographer Josie Iselin highlights the exquisite colors and forms of kelp and other marine algae

Could it be true vole love, or just a casual encounter? Depends on whether booze is involved.

New Research

Drunken Prairie Voles Help Explain Alcohol’s Demons

Why do some people become more prone to attachment and sentimentality when drunk, while others tend to stray?

Baridi, the Houston Zoo's two-month-old Masai giraffe.

Cute Baby Animals You Have To See This Spring

From tiny tapirs to pint-sized polar bears — America’s zoos are full of new baby animals

"Make eggs, make eggs!"

New Research

A Loving Touch Triggers Cockroaches to Make Babies Faster

Female cockroaches make eggs more quickly if they cuddle with other roaches, but artificial antennae delivering gentle touches can also speed egg growth

A West Indian manatee calf nurses from its mother.

American South

14 Fun Facts About Manatees

These roly-poly herbivores just may be the teddy bears of the sea. But keep an eye out when boating; they don’t move so fast.

Zebrafish embryo

Art Meets Science

A Scan of a Mechanical Heart Pump Fitted in a Live Human and Other Eerily Beautiful Scientific Images

From a photo of a tick biting flesh to a closeup of a kidney stone, the 18 winners of the 2014 Wellcome Image Awards highlight objects we don’t usually see

There's more going on here than you might suspect.

New Research

Never Underestimate a Goat; It’s Not As Stupid As It Looks

Goats are not just cute and somewhat comical, but also surprisingly intelligent, new research finds

What happens when scientists expose wasps to outer space radiation? The insects mutate into giant killing machines—or, so say the makers of the 1958 film Monster From Green Hell.

Art Meets Science

Scream Queen: An Entomologist Dispels the Myths in Insect Horror Flicks

May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois, explains where the science goes wrong in these seven films—all featuring arthropod antagonists

The Anguilla Bank skink, a Caribbean species discovered along with 23 others in 2012, is vulnerable to extinction.

How Many Species Can We Find Before They Disappear Forever?

Biologists are in a race to locate and identify new species as habitats become victim to an industrialized world

A yellow-bellied sea snake stranded on a beach in Costa Rica.

New Research

Some Sea Snakes Can Go Seven Months Without Drinking Water

To survive the dry season, yellow-bellied sea snakes severely dehydrate until the wet season brings freshwater for them to lap up from the ocean’s surface

Fallen trees in Chernobyl's infamous red forest.

New Research

Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly

It wasn’t just people, animals and trees that were affected by radiation exposure at Chernobyl, but also the decomposers: insects, microbes, and fungi

A Falcon UAV unpiloted aircraft is bungee launched in a midday demonstration flight.

The One Use of Drones Everyone Can Agree on, Except for Poachers

Conservationists are looking to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for help in keeping an eye on endangered species

Shealy poses with a cast of a Skunk Ape footprint he says he made in 1998.

On the Trail of Florida’s Bigfoot—the Skunk Ape

Is an imaginary creature a case of mistaken identity?

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