Biology

A frog-eating bat

Wild Bats Can Recognize a Phone’s Ringtone Four Years Later

The findings could help researchers understand more about the advantages and disadvantages of long-term memory in animals

Glowing green waters surrounded a boat in the Arabian Sea.

What Causes Swaths of the Ocean to Glow a Magnificent Milky Green?

A sailor who witnessed the rare phenomenon in person and a scientist who saw it from the sky team up to learn about the ghostly light

Fish like Epinephelides armatus, also known as breaksea cod, tend to be rated as uglier than fish like Holacanthus ciliaris, or queen angelfish.

Ugly Fish Need Love, Too

New research finds that less attractive reef fish are more likely to be threatened

Giraffes may have evolved such long necks, in part, because of sexual competition.

An Extinct, Head-Butting Animal May Help Explain Giraffes' Long Necks

The giraffe’s ancestor used its sturdy head and neck to fight for mates

Asian elephants

Scientists Are Using YouTube to Understand How Elephants Mourn Their Dead

The research is part of a growing trend of using crowdsourced videos to learn about elusive or hard-to-study animals

Lovebirds only have two legs, but they use their beaks as a propulsive third limb when climbing.

Lovebirds Use Their Beaks as a Third Limb While Climbing

Researchers find that their chops are as powerful as a rock climber's arms

Whale sharks are the largest fish on Earth.

Cargo Ships Are Killing Whale Sharks

New research shows these gentle giants are often on a collision course with large ocean vessels

Some 1,500 rhesus macaques live a mile off the eastern shore of Puerto Rico on Cayo Santiago.

Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican Island Where 1,500 Monkeys Rule

The Caribbean Primate Research Center on Monkey Island is one of the world’s top institutions for studying primate behavior

Hawksbill turtles often take circuitous routes to reach foraging sites, according to new research.

Migrating Sea Turtles Don’t Really Know Where They’re Going

New research finds that many hawksbill turtles take meandering routes to reach foraging sites in the Indian Ocean

The Octopus bimaculoides, or the California two-spot octopus

Scientists Figure Out Why Female Octopuses Self-Destruct After Laying Eggs

A new study finds several biochemical pathways, including one that produces a precursor to cholesterol, may be key to this behavior

Biotech firm Oxitec is genetically modifying mosquitoes in the hopes of curbing the overall population. The company completed its first open-air release of the bugs in Florida.

Innovation for Good

First U.S. Open-Air Test of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Deemed a Success

Biotech firm Oxitec engineered the bugs in an effort to curb their numbers and help stop the spread of disease

At least 36 bald eagles have died since February because of the H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The virus is also causing the death of millions of commercial chickens and turkeys.

Bald Eagles Are Dying From Bird Flu

The highly contagious H5N1 strain is also infecting commercial chickens and turkeys

 The newly described jumping spider, Guriurius minuano, has a stripy pattern on its abdomen and large black eyes. (Pictured)

Scientists Identify 50,000th Spider Species on Earth—but Thousands More Are Waiting to Be Discovered

A new kind of jumping spider discovered in South America marks the major milestone

This mural outside of an outfitter's office illustrates the snaking mouth of Mosquito Bay.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico's Bioluminescent Bays Are Brighter Than Ever

The nightly light shows have rebounded from Hurricane Maria's devastating blow

Filling in genome gaps could help scientists better the genetic basis for certain diseases and lead to new medical discoveries.

Good News

Scientists Have Finally Sequenced a 'Gapless' Human Genome

Scientists have deciphered the missing eight percent of our genetic blueprint, setting the stage for new discoveries in human evolution and disease

Acid-spewing tawny crazy ants, formerly called raspberry crazy ants, have been spreading through the gulf coast in recent years.

A Killer Fungus Is Annihilating Invasive 'Crazy Ants' in the United States

Entomologists are hopeful the pathogen could slow the insects' spread through the country

Bats, rodents, hedgehogs, and shrews are mammals among the orders that are predicted to have the most undescribed mammals. (Pictured: a bicolored shrew)

Good News

Study Finds Hundreds of Mammals Are Waiting to Be Discovered

New species may be hidden in areas that have more comprehensive geographic ranges with high variability in temperature and precipitation

Dried cochineal insects — shown here in the center of the photo — can be processed to create several natural dyes such as carmine and cochineal extract. These products get their red hue from carminic acid, a chemical found within the insect.

Scientists Are Making Cochineal, a Red Dye From Bugs, in the Lab

Used to color foods and cosmetics, carminic acid is traditionally 'farmed' from an insect. But researchers are moving to engineer it in microbes

Utah state officials set out two barrel traps to capture an elusive wolverine that was spotted from an aircraft. 

Utah Captures and Collars First Wolverine in State History

The state has only confirmed eight wolverine sightings in 40 years. Data from the GPS collar will provide invaluable insights about the elusive species

Sleeping one night with light that emits just 100 lux—similar to the glow of television—was enough to change an individual's glucose regulation and heart rate.

Sleeping With Even a Dim Light Can Raise Blood Sugar and Heart Rate

In a study of 20 participants, those that slept with a light had worse blood sugar control the next morning compared to those who snoozed in total darkness

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