Life
- Animals
Can scientists develop an icy sanctuary for Arctic life?
The final refuge for summer sea ice may also protect the creatures that depend on it. Saving it is an ambitious goal with many hurdles.
- Animals
Let’s learn about chimpanzees and bonobos
Humankind’s closest cousins in the animal kingdom may look similar, but in terms of behavior, they’re polar opposites.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Adaptation
This word refers to a feature of a living thing that helps it better survive in its environment — or the process of that feature evolving in a population.
- Animals
‘Penis worms’ could have been the original hermits
These soft-bodied critters lived in abandoned shells about 500 million years ago, a new study suggests.
- Earth
From icebergs to smoke, forecasting where dangers will drift
Smoke drifts. Fish eggs float downstream. Where such drifting things end up may seem a mystery. But research can predict where they’ll end up.
- Animals
A panda stands out at the zoo but blends in the wild
A panda may stand out among bamboo at the zoo, but in the wild, its black-and-white coloring camouflages it from predators. Learn more with this web comic.
- Microbes
Genes point to how some bacteria can gobble up electricity
A new study shows how some microbes absorb and release electrons — a trait that may point to new fuels or ways to store energy.
- Climate
Secret forest fungi partner with plants — and help the climate
Forest fungi are far more than mere mushrooms. They explore. They move nutrients and messages between plants. They can even help fight climate change.
- Animals
Meat-eating bees have something in common with vultures
Flesh-eating bees have acid-producing gut bacteria, much as vultures do. It lets them safely snack on rotting meat.
- Life
Let’s learn about the hunt for alien life
Finding any extraterrestrials, from advanced alien civilizations to simple microbes, would be an unmatched discovery.
- Earth
Analyze This: Nutrients from sewage may harm coastal ecosystems
A new model suggests that 58 percent of coral reefs and 88 percent of seagrass beds are exposed to excess nitrogen from wastewater.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Experiment
An experiment is a set of procedures to learn about the world — and an important part of the scientific process.
