It's Alive
- Animals
There’s more to pufferfish than that goofy spiked balloon
Three odd things about pufferfishes: how they mate, how they bite and what’s up with no fish scales?
- Animals
Parenting chores cut into how much these bird dads fool around
Frantic parenting demands after eggs hatch curtail male black coucals’ philandering excursions the most, a study finds.
- Plants
Shutdown aside, Joshua trees live an odd life
Growing only in the U.S. Southwest, wild Joshua trees evolved a rare, fussy pollination scheme.
- Animals
How nectar bats fly nowhere
Exquisitely sensitive tech makes first direct measurements of the forces of bat wingbeats.
- Animals
These songbirds violently fling and then impale their prey
A loggerhead shrike that skewers small animals on barbed wire gives mice whiplash shakeups.
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- Animals
These caterpillars march. They fluff. They scare London.
Oak processionary moths have invaded England and threatened the pleasure of spring breezes.
- Animals
In a pack hunt, it’s every goatfish for itself
Pack hunting among goatfish is really about self-interest.
- Plants
The flowers that give us chocolate are ridiculously hard to pollinate
Cacao trees are really fussy about pollination.
- Animals
Robot fish shows how the deepest vertebrate in the sea takes the pressure
Tests with a robot snailfish reveal why the deep-sea fish has mysterious goo in its body.
- Animals
Studying giant tortoise flips without tipping the animals over is a delicate business
Giant tortoise shells go domed or saddlebacked, but which is better when navigating treacherous ground?
- Animals
Here’s why some water striders have fans on their legs
A fan of tiny, elegant plumes on their legs helps certain water striders dash across flowing water without getting wet.
