The Science Life
- Earth
How climbers help scientists vibe with Utah’s famous red rock formations
Researchers teamed up with rock climbers to collect rare data that help them assess the seismic stability of red rock formations in Utah.
- Animals
Mirror beetles’ shiny bodies may not act as camouflage after all
Hundreds of handmade clay nubbins test the notion that a beetle’s metallic high gloss could confound predators. Birds pecked the lovely idea to death.
- Chemistry
One forensic scientist is scraping bones for clues to time of death
The bones of more than 100 cadavers are shedding light on a more precise and reliable way to determine when someone died.
- Animals
Scientists uncover the secret to fishing cats’ hunting success
Volunteers in India have helped to explain how one of the world’s semiaquatic wild cat species hunts.
- Animals
Scientists vacuumed animal DNA out of thin air for the first time
The ability to sniff out animals’ airborne genetic material has been on researchers’ wish list for over a decade.
- Animals
Gut bacteria let vulture bees eat rotting flesh without getting sick
Acid-producing bacteria in the gut of vulture bees let these “weirdos of the bee world” safely snack on animal carcasses.
- Anthropology
How catching birds bare-handed may hint at Neandertals’ hunting tactics
By pretending to be Neandertals, researchers show that the ancient hominids likely had the skills to easily hunt crowlike birds called choughs.
- Animals
Some birds learn to recognize calls while still in their eggs
For over a decade, behavioral ecologist Diane Colombelli-Négrel and colleagues have been studying how birds perceive sounds before hatching.
- Animals
A hammerhead shark baby boom near Florida hints at a historic nursery
Finding an endangered shark nursery in a vast ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack. But that’s just what scientists did near Miami.
- Animals
How some lizards breathe underwater
Researchers have figured out how some anole lizards can stay underwater for as long as 18 minutes.
- Microbes
Missing Antarctic microbes raise thorny questions about the search for aliens
Scientists couldn’t find microbial life in soils from Antarctica, hinting at a limit for habitability on Earth and other worlds.
- Ecosystems
As ‘phantom rivers’ roar, birds and bats change their hunting habits
A massive experiment in the Idaho wilderness shows it’s not just human-made noises that impact ecosystems. Natural noises can too.
