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Science / Wildlife

ZnO Fall Flowers. Image by Audrey Forticaux, a graduate student in the Chemistry Department

Intriguing Science Art From the University of Wisconsin

From a fish’s dyed nerves to vapor strewn across the planet, images submitted to a contest at the university offer new perspectives of the natural world

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10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year

The rare coealacanth’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals.

DNA Sequencing Reveals that Coelacanths Weren’t the Missing Link Between Sea and Land

The rare fish’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals

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Sequestration to Cause Closures, Secretary Clough Testifies

Gallery closings, fewer exhibitions and reduced educational offerings are some of the impacts he listed before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

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If You Watch Slow Loris Videos on YouTube, Are You Threatening the Species’ Survival?

Never has been being so cute been so dangerous

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Where Have the Trees of Guam Gone?

Scientists are investigating whether the obliteration of the island’s bird species is thinning the tree canopy and could alter the forests’ structure

This adult male bedbug wants to suck your blood.

Bean Leaves Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite by Using Tiny, Impaling Spikes

Researchers hope to design a new bedbug eradication method based upon a folk remedy of trapping the bloodsuckers as they creep

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Photos: Scenes From Life Under the Sea

Three decades in and photojournalist Brian Skerry is still getting acquainted with the ocean’s many characters

Caught in the act by a motion-sensing infrared camera, Yachak, nicknamed by local researchers, feeds on a cow carcass--just one of the 250-plus livestock head the old male has killed in about three years.

What Should Be Done With Yachak, the Cattle-Killing Bear of the Andes

Conservationists and ranchers in Ecuador struggle to make peace while an elusive spectacled bear feasts on valuable livestock

A trident lined with shark teeth, used in the study.

19th Century Shark Tooth Weapons Reveal A Reef’s Missing Shark Species

Lashed to swords and spears from the Pacific’s Gilbert Islands are teeth from two shark species that were never known to have swam in the area

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Why Geckos Don’t Slip Off Wet Jungle Leaves or Hotel Ceilings

A surface’s ability to attract and repel water heavily influences the degree to which a gecko can cling overhead, new research shows

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Sugar Cube-Sized Robotic Ants Mimic Real Foraging Behavior

Researchers use tiny robots to study how ants navigate a labyrinth of networks, from the nest to the food and back again

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The Otherworldly Calm of Wolfgang Laib’s Glowing Beeswax Room

A German contemporary artist creates a meditative space—lined with beeswax—at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

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Sea Monkeys, Ferns and Frozen Frogs: Nature’s Very Own Resurrecting Organisms

As Easter draws near, we celebrate creatures that seemingly die and then come back to life

Polar bear-brown bear hybrids like this pair at Germany’s Osnabrück Zoo are becoming more common as melting sea ice forces the two species to cross paths.

Brown Polar Bears, Beluga-Narwhals and Other Hybrids Brought to You by Climate Change

Animals with shrinking habitats are interbreeding, temporarily boosting populations but ultimately hurting species’ survival

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Video: This Lizard-Inspired Robot Can Scamper Across Sand

It’s a product of the emerging field of terradynamics, which studies the movement of vehicles across shifting surfaces

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Untangling the Mysterious Genetic Tentacles of the Giant Squid

Contrary to prior speculation about the elusive creatures, all giant squid belong to a single species and they all share very similar genetics

This cicada is part of Brood XIX, a 13-year recurrent swarm from the southern US.

After 17 Years, the Northeast Is About to Be Blanketed by a Swarm of Cicadas

An inch and a half long with bright red eyes, the swarm of Brood II cicadas is coming

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VIDEO: Herons Crash the Zoo

Black-crowned night herons have been using the Zoo’s grounds for breeding for more than a century and the tradition continues

Roosters have an internal circadian rhythm, which keeps them crowing on schedule even when the lights are turned off.

How Do Roosters Know When to Crow?

Their internal circadian rhythms keep them crowing on schedule, even when the lights are turned off

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