All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
When snakes fly
A gliding snake gets some lift by spreading its ribs, but much about its flight remains a mystery.
- Plants
Sexually deceived flies not hopelessly dumb
Pollinators tricked into mating with a plant become harder to fool a second time.
- Animals
Windows may kill up to 988 million birds a year in the United States
Single-family homes and low-rise buildings do much more damage than skyscrapers.
- Animals
Sloths, moths, algae may live in three-way benefit pact
Insects and green slime may justify the slow mammal’s risky descent from trees.
- Animals
Sperm on a stick for springtails
Many males of the tiny soil organisms sustain their species by leaving drops of sperm glistening here and there in the landscape in case a female chooses to pick one up.
- Animals
Swimming dolphins don’t need to cheat
Dolphins swimming through bubbles burst old notion of underpowered muscles.
- Life
V-flying birds pick efficient flapping pattern
Ibises time their flaps to catch a boost from a neighbor’s wing.
- Animals
Dog-paddle science debunks notion of underwater trot
From Newfoundlands to Yorkshire terriers, canines swim with similar, distinctive gait.
- Animals
Smoker’s breath saves caterpillars’ lives
Larvae of the tobacco hornworm caterpillar exhale nicotine, driving away predatory spiders.
- Microbes
Microscopic menagerie
The microbes dwelling in and on multicellular organisms should be viewed as evolutionarily inseparable from their hosts, some biologists argue.
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- Plants
Lone survivor of ancient flowers is gluttonous gene consumer
The rare Amborella shrub has engulfed whole genomes from other species.
