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Weird Animals

"Hey guys this sugar is great, but where can we find some morphine?"

Addict Ants Show That Insects Can Get Hooked on Drugs, Too

How researchers got a non-mammal hooked on drugs for the first time

The male brown widow spider may not be as unlucky in love as we once thought.

Male Widow Spiders Prefer Younger Ladies—So They Don’t Get Eaten

This strategy means they live to mate again, upending assumptions about these arachnids

Like humans, captive Komodo dragons tend to impose their microbes upon their environments.

Captive Komodo Dragons Share Their Teeming Microbiome with Their Environment, Just Like Us

Komodos could be the perfect model for studying host-microbe interactions

Twin puppies Cullen and Romulus

New Research

Identical Twin Puppies Confirmed for the First Time

Two Irish wolfhounds from South Africa shared the same placenta and have the same genetic makeup

These glow-in-the-dark roaches have the goods.

I Am Officially in Love With Cockroaches

And after you read this, you will be too

Cool Finds

Adorable Stubby Squid Found Off the Coast of Southern California

Researchers aboard the E/V Nautilus happened across a particularly cute stubby squid

A nesting male with a female in his nest.

New Research

Give it Up, Sneaky Males: These Lady Fish Have You Outwitted

Female ocellated wrasses have developed a surprising trick to control who fathers their offspring

Move over, tortoises: These sharks take the prize for oldest living vertebrate.

New Research

These Ridiculously Long-Lived Sharks Are Older Than the United States, and Still Living It Up

The lifespans of these marine methuselahs may double those of oldest living tortoises, a creative dating method finds

A silverfish

New Research

Richer Homes Are Also Richer in Biodiversity

Scientists find that wealthier neighborhoods sport a greater diversity of bugs

Not always your friend.

A Neuroscientist Tells You What’s Wrong With Your Brain

Dean Burnett’s new book, Idiot Brain, explains why your mind evolved to thwart you

A pair of Scinax alcatraz frogs discreetly lay their eggs in a water-filled plant.

When Frogs Pull the Curtain: The Benefits of Mating in Secret

Smithsonian’s new curator of frogs explains why some frogs seek privacy when they mate

Corvette Stingray

These Sleek, Sexy Cars Were All Inspired By Fish

You’ve heard about the Stingray, but what about the Bionic Boxfish?

The purple orb, which may be a new species of nudibranch

Cool Finds

Researchers Find Mysterious Purple Orb in the Channel Islands

The creature stumped the team and could be a new species

Yao honey-hunter Orlando Yassene holds a wild greater honeyguide male in the Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique.

New Research

Forget Bees: This Bird Has the Sweetest Deal With Honey-Seeking Humans

The effectiveness of the honeyguide call sheds light on why this golden relationship has stuck around so long

Aye-aye

New Research

Study Shows Primates Prefer a Little Booze With Their Nectar

Two prosimian primates, the aye-aye and slow loris, show a preference for sugar-water with a higher alcohol content

Move Over, Madagascar: This Island Has the World’s Greatest Concentration of Unique Mammals

The majority of them are found nowhere else on Earth, making Luzon a biological treasure trove

New Research

The Secret Life of Urban Hedgehogs

Though city-dwelling hedgehogs have adapted to metropolitan life, some need a little help to thrive

That's one big pile of crabs.

Cool Finds

Watch a Horde of Giant Crabs Amass Off of the Australian Coast

Hundreds. Of thousands. Of crabs.

The world's first ring designed for racing cars, built in 1907. It's one of 21 sites Historic England is asking more information on from the public

Cool Finds

Help England Crowdsource Its History

Historic England is asking the public for information and photos on 21 weird and wonderful sites on its list of historic places

A photo of the two giant footprints that appeared on the shores of a Nantucket beach in August 1937.

The Summer of Nantucket’s Sublime Sea Serpent

News travels fast in small towns — especially when it involves huge footprints of a rumored mythical creature

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