Animals
- Earth
New mapping shows just how much fishing impacts the world’s seas
Industrial fishing now occurs across 55 percent of the world’s ocean area while only 34 percent of Earth’s land area is used for agriculture or grazing.
- Genetics
The last wild horses aren’t truly wild
The ancestor of today’s domesticated horses remains a mystery after a new analysis of ancient horse DNA.
- Plants
The flowers that give us chocolate are ridiculously hard to pollinate
Cacao trees are really fussy about pollination.
- Animals
Ants practice combat triage and nurse their injured
Termite-hunting ants have their own version of combat medicine for injured nest mates.
- Animals
Strong winds send migrating seal pups on lengthier trips
Prevailing winds can send northern fur seal pups on an epic journey.
- Paleontology
Fossil footprints may put lizards on two feet 110 million years ago
Fossilized footprints found in South Korea could be the earliest evidence of two-legged running in lizards.
- Anthropology
In Borneo, hunting emerges as a key threat to endangered orangutans
Only small numbers of Bornean orangutans will survive coming decades, researchers say.
- Climate
Look to penguins to track Antarctic changes
Scientists say carbon and nitrogen isotopes found in penguin tissues can indicate shifts in the Antarctic environment.
- Genetics
Study debunks fishy tale of how rabbits were first tamed
A popular tale about rabbit domestication turns out to be fiction.
- Life
Shipping noise can disturb porpoises and disrupt their mealtime
Noise from ships may disturb harbor porpoises enough to keep them from getting the food they need.
- Animals
Even after bedbugs are eradicated, their waste lingers
Bedbug waste contains high levels of the allergy-triggering chemical histamine, which stays behind even after the insects are eradicated.
- Animals
Trove of hummingbird flight data reveals secrets of nimble flying
Tweaks in muscle and wing form give different hummingbird species varying levels of agility.
