Life

Animals

Even raised by people, wolves don’t tune into you like your dog

Dog puppies outpace wolf pups at engaging with humans, even with less exposure to people, supporting the idea that domestication changed dogs’ brains.

Earth

New beetle species found in fossil poop of this dino relative

Whole beetles preserved in fossilized reptilian poop suggest that ancient droppings may deserve a closer look.

Animals

Here’s how sea otters stay warm without blubber or a large body

For the smallest mammal in the ocean, staying warm is tough. Now, scientists have figured out how the animals’ cells rise to the challenge.

Animals

Abdominal fuzz makes bee bodies super slippery

Scientists find that tiny hairs on a honeybee’s abdomen reduce wear and tear as a bee’s outer skeletal parts rub against each other all day long.

Animals

Uncovering secrets of the glasswing butterfly’s see-through wings

The tricks of its transparency include sparse, spindly scales and a waxy coated membrane.

Earth

Let’s learn about Antarctica

This continent is dry, windy and very cold — and home to penguins, ice and a lot of scientific research.

Animals

Some beetles walk along the underside of the water’s surface

Their upside-down scurrying is a rare method of getting around.

Animals

Dinosaur families appear to have lived in the Arctic year-round

Fossils of baby dinosaurs in northern Alaska challenge the idea that northern dinosaurs only spent their summers in the high Arctic.

Animals

Spiders can take down and feast on surprisingly big snakes

Snared in sticky webs and subdued by poison, even venomous snakes can become a spider’s soup.

Fossils

Ancient creature revealed as lizard, not a teeny dinosaur

CT scans of 99-million-year-old fossils of hummingbird-sized specimens trapped in amber reveal a number of lizardlike features.

Life

Let’s learn about microbes

There may be a billion species of microorganisms on Earth — but scientists have only discovered a small fraction of them.

Animals

Birds could get their sense of direction from quantum physics

Songbirds could detect north and south using a protein in their eye. It works somewhat like a compass.