Life

  1. Animals

    Hey, Roach Babe: Male cockroaches give fancy courting whistles

    Some male cockroaches whistle at females with surprisingly complex, almost birdlike whistles.

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  2. Ecosystems

    On the Rise: Siberian lakes—Major sources of methane

    Field studies suggest that Siberian lakes are a much larger source of atmospheric methane than had been previously recognized.

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  3. Ecosystems

    Bad-News Beauties

    Discarded aquarium fish are the likely source of an alien species that's breeding in the Atlantic and could threaten economically important U.S. fisheries.

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  4. Ecosystems

    Madagascar’s Fantastic Forests

    Produced by WBUR in Boston to accompany a special program on Madagascar, this award-winning Web site offers a remarkably detailed look at life on this island, with a focus on the struggle to preserve Earth’s diversity of life. It includes photo galleries, audio clips, videos, maps, and much more. Go to: http://www.wbur.org/special/madagascar/

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  5. Paleontology

    Frozen rainforest

    Fossils trapped in amber provide evidence that the Amazonian rainforest dates back 10 to 15 million years.

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  6. Animals

    Flea treatment shows downside of social life

    The flealike parasites that build up in a shared burrow take an unexpectedly large toll on the ground squirrel's reproductive success.

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  7. Animals

    How do female lemurs get so tough?

    Female ring-tailed lemurs may get masculinized by well-timed little rises of prenatal hormones.

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  8. Animals

    Female moths join pheromone choruses

    Female rattlebox moths can detect each other's male-luring pheromones and tend to gather in what may be a scent version of male frogs' chorusing around the pond.

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  9. Animals

    Underage Spiders: Males show unexpected interest in young mates

    Male Australian redback spiders mate readily with females too young to have external openings to their reproductive tracts, a tactic that reduces the male's risk of getting cannibalized.

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  10. Paleontology

    Bone Hunt

    Science News reporter Sid Perkins recounts the trials and tribulations of digging for dinosaurs in central Montana.

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  11. Animals

    Seabirds take record summer vacations

    Sooty shearwaters that breed in New Zealand have set a new record for off-season travel, covering 64,000 kilometers between visits to their mating ground.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Fish as Farmers: Reef residents tend an algal crop

    A damselfish cultivates underwater gardens of an algal species that researchers haven't found growing on its own.

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