Animals

Animals

Crows safeguard sticks to speed future food-finding forays

New Caledonian crows safeguard the sticks they use to find food. As the risk of losing the tool increases, the more protective the birds become.

Animals

Pandas’ gut bacteria resemble carnivores’

Unlike other vegetarians, the bamboo eaters lack plant-digesting microbes.

Animals

Vampire squid take mommy breaks

The vampire squid again defies its sensationalist name with a life in the slow lane.

Life

Male stag beetles face weighty problem for flight

Male stag beetles need enormous mandibles to fend off other males and find a mate, but computer simulations show that the giant jaws make running and flying very difficult.

Psychology

Quantity counts for baboons

Counting-like logic helps baboons track and compare accumulating sets of peanuts.

Animals

A summer challenge: Observe nature

Opportunities for observing nature are plentiful, no matter where you live.

Animals

Ants snap jaws, shoot skyward, escape death

Emergency trap jaw launchings help some ants pass death tests.

Animals

Deepwater dweller is first known warm-hearted fish

The opah, a deep-diving fish, can keep much of its body warmer than its surroundings, making it similar to warm-blooded birds and mammals.

Neuroscience

Fruit flies flee from shadows

Studying flies’ responses to an ominous shadow may lead to a deeper understanding of humans’ emotions.

Animals

Early research asked whether cats dream

Early research asked whether cats dream; researchers still don’t know definitively.

Animals

Nighttime light pollution sabotages sex pheromones of moths

Artificial lighting at night can trick female moths into releasing skimpy, odd-smelling sex pheromones.

Animals

Pruning bug genitals revives puzzle of extra-long males

Surgical approach highlights question of length mismatch in his and hers morphologies.