Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- Life
Kitchen sponges are bacteria’s dream home
Sponges are favorite spots for bacteria, partly because of the mixed-housing environment that the cleaner-uppers offer microbes.
- Animals
Mosquitoes see red, which may be why they find us so appealing
Mosquitoes not only see colors, but also prefer certain ones, such as the hues of human skin.
- Animals
The end of the dinosaurs appears to have come in springtime
Fish fossils from North Dakota suggest when the Chicxulub asteroid devastated Earth, triggering the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other species.
- Animals
Analyze This: Birds may decorate nests to scare off rivals
Birds that nest in holes face stiff competition for nest sites. Some use feathers, also found where predators have made a kill, to keep rivals away.
- Animals
Orcas can take down the largest animal on the planet
For the first time, scientists observed that orcas can kill blue whales by using the same hunting techniques that have worked on other large whales.
- Science & Society
Explainer: What is an endangered species?
Threats such as climate change and habitat loss can put species at risk of going extinct. Different words describe that risk.
- Animals
Bees and butterflies struggle to find flowers in polluted air
Emissions from cars and trucks make it harder for insects to find flowers. That in turn reduces flower visits and pollination, a new study finds.
- Earth
Widely used pesticides may threaten Earth’s ozone layer
Data show a major class of long-used “eco-friendly” copper chemicals unexpectedly react with soil, making gases harmful to Earth’s protective ozone layer.
- Animals
See the world through a jumping spider’s eyes — and other senses
Scientists are teasing out the many ways the spiders’ vision, listening and taste senses differ from ours
- Animals
Goldfish driving ‘cars’ offer new insight into navigation
Fishes’ internal sense of direction is not limited to their natural environment. The latest Wild Things cartoon from Science News for Students.
- Brain
Addiction can develop when reward-seeking changes a teen’s brain
Over time, the pleasure disappears and craving grows. That craving causes stress that can drive people to use drugs or pursue unhealthy behaviors again and again.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Decay
This word can refer to rotting flesh or the transformation of radioactive atoms.
