Animals
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Animals
The diabolical ironclad beetle can survive getting run over by a car. Here’s how
The diabolical ironclad beetle is an incredibly tough little creature. A peek inside its exoskeleton reveals what makes it virtually uncrushable.
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Animals
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies and steal babies
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies, steal pups and evict any others left behind. The show of force may be central to their underground lifestyle.
By Jake Buehler -
Animals
Fire ants build little syphons out of sand to feed without drowning
To escape a watery death, some fire ants use build sand structures that draw the insects’ sugary, liquid food out of containers and to a safer place.
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Animals
A rope bridge restored a highway through the trees for endangered gibbons
When critically endangered Hainan gibbons started making dangerous leaps across a new gully, researchers came up with an alternative route.
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Animals
Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light
Tardigrades have a newly discovered trick up their sleeve: fluorescence.
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Animals
Pufferfish may be carving mysterious ‘crop circles’ near Australia
In 2011, scientists discovered that tiny pufferfish were sculpting Japan’s underwater “mystery circles.” Now, more circles have emerged in Australia.
By Jake Buehler -
Animals
This rare bird is male on one side and female on the other
Researchers at Powdermill Nature Reserve near Pittsburgh spotted a bird with pink male coloring on half of its body and yellow female hues on the other.
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Neuroscience
Your dog’s brain doesn’t care about your face
Comparing brain scans of people and pups shows that faces hold no special meaning to the brains of dogs, a new study suggests.
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Paleontology
Cannibalism in the womb may have helped megalodon sharks become giants
The ancient sea terror Otodus megalodon may have grown to at least 14 meters long thanks to a firstborn pup’s predatory behavior, some researchers say.
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Animals
This snake rips a hole in living toads’ stomachs to feast on their organs
A particularly gruesome way to kill may help small-banded kukri snakes avoid toxins secreted from the neck and backs of some toads.
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Life
A new map shows where Asian giant hornets could thrive in the U.S.
Suitable habitat along the Pacific West Coast means so-called “murder hornets” could get a foothold in North America if they aren’t eradicated.
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Life
Before migrating, some blue whales switch up the timing of their songs
Pacific blue whales change the daily timing of their songs ahead of migration, helping scientists better anticipate these massive animals’ movements.
By Jake Buehler