All Stories by Susan Milius
- Plants
Fringy flowers are hard to dunk
The fringe on the edges of the floating blooms of water snowflake flowers helps protect the important parts from getting drenched in dunkings.
- Ecosystems
Are They Really Extinct?
A few optimists keep looking for species that might already have gone extinct.
- Earth
Underground Soil Economy: Microbes hidden in the dirt react to UV boost
The community of soil microbes may live hidden in the ground, but it still changes when there's more ultraviolet radiation above.
- Animals
Honey-Scented Elephants: Young males’ faces drip sweet signals
An Asian bull elephant just reaching maturity secretes a liquid from glands on its face that smells like honey.
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Encouraging signs but no woodpecker
A birding team searching in Louisiana for the possibly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker heard a promising pattern of taps but did not see the bird or hear it calling.
- Ecosystems
Cryptic Invasion: Native reeds harbor aggressive alien
A mild-mannered reed native to the United States is getting blamed for the mayhem caused by an evil twin.
- Animals
Yellower blue tits make better dads
The yellow feathers on a male blue tit's breast could tell females that he'll be a good provider for the chicks.
- Plants
Tropical plants grow cool flowers
Tropical plants that position their flowers in the general direction of the sun are keeping the temperature comfortable for pollinators.
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Meeting Danielle the Tarantula
Insect zoos have no lions, tigers, or bears but can give plenty of thrills, courtesy of tarantulas, giant beetles, and exotic grasshoppers.
- Plants
Petite pollinators: Tree raises its own crop of couriers
A common tropical tree creates farms in its buds, where it raises its own work force of tiny pollinators.
- Plants
Shower power: Raindrops shoot seeds out with a splat
In a seed-dispersal mechanism scientists have never seen before in flowering plants, rain plops into a capsule and makes seeds shoot out the corners.
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Parrots will fluoresce for sex
A budgerigar's head literally glows for its mate, and both males and females of this parrot species prefer to court radiant partners.
