Animals
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FossilsMini pterosaur from the age of flying giants
Not all pterosaurs flying the Cretaceous skies had a wingspan as wide as a school bus is long. Some, new fossils show, were smaller than modern eagles.
By Meghan Rosen -
BrainGood dog! Canine brains separate tone of speech from its meaning
Dogs brains divide up the tasks of interpreting words and interpreting emotion. It’s a skill that may have evolved even before people did.
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AnimalsMeet scientists who take on the study of life
What does a scientist look like? Meet these amazing women in biology.
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AnimalsBee underfeeds eldest daughter, creating ‘nursemaid’
By giving a brood’s firstborn female smaller portions and a low-protein diet, a mother bee can turn the offspring into a nursemaid for her younger siblings.
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Health & MedicineCool Jobs: Linking animal health to human health
Scientists who watch out for diseases in wild animals also can play a role in keeping people from getting sick.
By Liz Devitt -
Materials ScienceBeetles offer people lessons in moisture control
Taking tricks from a beetle, researchers are designing surfaces that collect water from the air or resist frost buildup.
By Sid Perkins -
ChemistryGot milk? Roach milk could be a new superfood
Scientists have just figured out the recipe for cockroach milk. And that could be a first step toward making it part of the human diet. Yum!
By Dinsa Sachan -
GeneticsWolf species shake-up
A genetic study says red wolves and eastern wolves may really be mixtures of coyotes and gray wolves, not distinct species.
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LifePlants, animals adapt to city living
Cities have turned into experiments in evolution for both plants and animals, from the taste of clover to the stickiness of lizards’ toes.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineEnd of Latin America’s Zika epidemic is in sight
A computer simulation suggests the Zika epidemic in Latin America is peaking and may not strike hard again for up to three decades.
By Meghan Rosen -
GeneticsGM mosquitoes cut rate of viral disease in Brazil
Adults males carrying the altered gene cannot father young that survive to adulthood. That’s when they suck blood — and can transmit disease.
By Susan Milius -
AnimalsScientists Say: Crepuscular
Day creatures are diurnal. Night creatures are nocturnal. Animals active at twilight get a special name.