All Stories by Susan Milius
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Sitting around? (Chomp!) Back to work!
An analysis of nestmates biting each other in a wasp colony suggests that the nips and outright chomps help organize work flow in the nest.
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Minke whales make Star Wars noises
Researchers have identified the dwarf minke whales of Australia as the source of an odd sound like the firing of a Stars Wars laser gun.
- Earth
New test traces underground forest carbon
An unusual method of studying soil respiration by girdling trees may clear up several vital mysteries in the way carbon cycles through forests.
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Catfish can track fish wakes in the dark
Infrared photography has revealed that catfish can stalk their prey by following wakes underwater.
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Cardinal girls learn faster than boys
A female cardinal learns about as many songs as a male but in one-third the time.
- Ecosystems
Parrot survey finds poaching but also hope
The largest review yet of wild parrot nesting finds poaching worrisomely frequent but also sees cause for hope in the efects of a U.S. protection law.
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A Fly Called Iyaiyai
All that Latin has its light side.
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Slave-making ants get rough in New York
The whole ant slave-making business turns more violent in New York than in West Virginia, even though it features the same species.
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Caterpillars die rather than switch
A newly identified compound in tomatoes and other plants of the nightshade family turns hornworms into addicts that often starve rather than eat another food.
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To save gardens, ants rush to whack weeds
Ants can grow gardens, too, and the first detailed study of their weeding techniques shows that whether a gardener has two legs or six, the chore looks much the same.
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Lyme ticks lurk on golf course edges
At least half the ticks collected along woodsy edges of five golf courses in Rhode Island carry the baterium that causes Lyme disease.
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How spiny lobsters make scary noises
Spiny lobsters make alarm and protest sounds by drawing their leathery plectra—protrusions at the base of each anntenna—across scaley ridges below their eyes, much like a violin bow pulling across a string.
