Life

Animals

The many efforts to lick cat allergies

Up to one in five people around the world may be allergic to cats. Science is coming to help their desire for kitty cuddles.

Health & Medicine

Immune arms-race in bats may make their viruses deadly to people

An overactive immune system may help bats avoid being sickened by many viruses. This may viruses becoming stronger — and deadlier — when they hit other species.

Animals

Drones might one day capture a dolphin’s breath in midair

High-speed footage of dolphin spray reveals that droplets blast upward at speeds close to 100 kilometers per hour.

Oceans

Healthy coral reef sounds attract fish searching for a home

Playing the sounds of a healthy reef can help attract fish to dying corals, helping rebuild their community.

Ecosystems

Newfound desert soil community lives on sips of fog

Lichens and other fungi and algae team up to form a 'grit-crust' on the parched soil of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Those species slake their thirst with moisture from coastal fog.

Ecosystems

Scientists Say: Estuary

This is where a freshwater river meets a salty sea. This environment has brackish water, a mix of saltwater and freshwater.

Fossils

Small T. rex ‘cousins’ may actually have been growing teens

Dinosaurs once thought to be mini cousins of Tyrannosaurus rex may have been merely adolescent members of the famous species, a new study suggests.

Health & Medicine

Explainer: What is a coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a diverse family of disease-causing agents. Some cause the common cold. Newer ones have emerged to pose more serious threats to people.

Health & Medicine

Serious virus emerges in China and is spreading globally

A new viral infection emerged in December 2019 among people in Wuhan, China. The mystery illness has already killed at least 17 people and sickened many hundreds.

Environment

Australian fires have imperiled up to 100 species

As massive wildfires consume huge swaths of Australia’s bush, untold species — many of them found nowhere else — are now threatened with extinction.

Life

Why some whales become giants and others are only big

Being big helps whales access more food. But just how big a whale can get is influenced by whether it hunts or filter-feeds.

Brain

Scientists’ brains shrank after a long stay in Antarctica

The isolation of a long-term mission at an Antarctic research station shrunk part of crew members’ brains, a small study suggests.