Animals
- Animals
Nature shows how dragons might breathe fire
Fire-breathing dragons can’t live anywhere outside of a book or TV. But nature provides some guidance as to how they might get their flames. If they existed, anyway.
- Agriculture
Can anything stop the big pig invasion?
Millions of wild pigs roam North America, causing billions of dollars in damage every year. Scientists are looking for new ways to stop the swine.
- Animals
Light at night lengthens how long birds can spread West Nile virus
Light at night prolongs the time it takes these birds to knock out a West Nile infection. Mosquitoes that bite them during this time can pick up and spread their virus to others — even people.
- Animals
The secrets of super-slurper bat tongues
Tiny hair-like structures greatly boost the ability of some bats to slurp up nectar from flowers.
- Animals
Compared to other primates, humans get little sleep
Short bouts of a sleep, called REM, separate humans from other primates, scientists find. Sleeping on the ground may have a lot to do with it.
- Animals
Living Mysteries: Meet Earth’s simplest animal
Trichoplax is the simplest animal on Earth. It has no mouth, stomach or brain. Yet it can teach how these and other organs evolved.
- Animals
Killer whale blows a raspberry, says ‘hello’
Orcas can mimic a range of sounds, including human speech — sort of.
- Animals
Tricky turns give prey a chance against lions and cheetahs
A bonanza of running data on wild predators shows that a successful hunt requires more than sprinting.
- Animals
Exploring the mysteries of Cuba’s coral reefs
Researchers are studying the mysterious lives of creatures in and near Cuba’s coral reefs. What they learn could help protect ocean life globally.
- Animals
Migrating crabs take their eggs to the sea
Cuba’s colorful land crabs connect swamp and sea with their yearly mass migrations. Protecting their routes can help other animals too.
- Animals
Scientists recruit bloodsucking leeches as research assistants
By analyzing a slimy, bloodsucking leech’s last meal, scientists can identify which animals had been living near it.
- Animals
Explainer: DNA hunters
Snippets of DNA can be left behind by a passing organism. Some researchers now act as wildlife detectives to identify the sources of such cast-off DNA.
