Animals

  1. Animals

    Octopus, squid and cuttlefish arms evolved to ‘taste’ different compounds

    Octopus suckers can taste a variety of greasy, sticky molecules, while squid and cuttlefish suckers detect bitter compounds.

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  2. Animals

    Hibernating bears don’t get blood clots. Now scientists know why

    People who sit still for hours have an increased risk of blood clots, but hibernating bears and people with long-term immobility don’t. A key clotting protein appears to be the reason why.

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  3. Animals

    Freshwater leeches’ taste for snails could help control snail-borne diseases

    A freshwater leech species will eat snails, raising the possibility that leeches could be used to control snail-borne diseases that infect humans and livestock.

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  4. Animals

    The last leg of the longest butterfly migration has now been identified

    After a long journey across the Sahara, painted lady butterflies from Europe set up camp in central Africa to wait out winter and breed.

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  5. Science & Society

    The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky

    The exhibition examines how light pollution harms astronomy, ecosystems and human cultures. But it also offers hope.

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  6. Animals

    This sea cucumber shoots sticky tubes out of its butt. Its genes hint at how

    A new genetics study is providing a wealth of information about silky, sticky tubes, called the Cuvierian organ, that sea cucumbers use to tangle foes.

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  7. Oceans

    ‘Jet packs’ and ultrasounds could reveal secrets of pregnant whale sharks

    Only one pregnant whale shark has ever been studied. New underwater techniques using ultrasound and blood tests could change that.

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  8. Animals

    Invasive yellow crazy ants create male ‘chimeras’ to reproduce

    Yellow crazy ants are first known species where chimerism is required in males: Each of their cells holds DNA from just one of two genetic lineages.

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  9. Life

    How some beetles ‘drink’ water using their butts

    Red flour beetles, a major agricultural pest, suck water out of the air using special cells in their rear ends, a new study suggests.

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  10. Life

    Capybaras thrive, even near humans, because they’re not picky eaters

    Scientists didn’t expect capybaras to eat both grasses and forest plants. The rodents’ flexible diet helps them live everywhere from cities to swamps.

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  11. Animals

    Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers

    Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.

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  12. Animals

    These transparent fish turn rainbow with white light. Now, we know why

    Repeated structures in the ghost catfish’s muscles separate white light that passes through their bodies into different wavelengths.

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