Animals
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AnimalsScientists Say: Vertebrate
Animals with spines, or vertebrates, come in all shapes and sizes.
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AnimalsLet’s learn about vampire bats
Vampire bats rarely bite people, instead preferring to feed on animals like cows and horses.
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AnimalsAdult corals have been frozen and revived for the first time
Living corals could be frozen for safekeeping. Scientists could later revive them to restore reef ecosystems that are withering in warming seas.
By Nikk Ogasa -
AnimalsWhere does Godzilla get his atomic breath?
Some secrets of the kaiju’s atomic breath can be explained with creative applications of physics and biology.
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Physics‘Feathering’ helps explain Gentoos’ record-breaking swim speed
Videos and computer analyses reveal the secrets of the penguins’ superspeed. The results could inspire future underwater vehicles.
By Sarah Wells -
AnimalsThis massive ancient whale may be the heaviest animal ever known
Called Perucetus colossus, it may have tipped the scales at up to 340 metric tons — more than today’s blue whales.
By Skyler Ware -
AnimalsThis egg-eater may have the biggest gulp of any snake its size
Slither aside, Burmese pythons. This little African snake has a truly outsized swallow.
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BrainA rat’s playfulness relies on cells in one part of its brain
Certain cells here control its behavior. Studying this circuitry could also help us understand depression in people.
By Simon Makin -
AnimalsA new technique creates glowing whole-body maps of mice
Removing cholesterol from mouse bodies lets fluorescent proteins seep into every tissue. That has helped researchers map entire body parts.
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AnimalsToothed whales use their noses to whistle and click
Much as people do, toothed whales, such as dolphins and sperm whales, make noises in three different vocal registers.
By Maria Temming and JoAnna Wendel -
AgricultureCow dung spews a climate-warming gas. Adding algae could limit that
But how useful this is depends on whether cows eat the red algae, a type of seaweed — or it gets added to their wastes after they’re pooped out.
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FossilsNew fossils bring the wide world of pterosaurs to life
The latest clues from fossils hint at where these flying reptiles came from, how they evolved, what they ate and more.
By Sid Perkins