A millennium-long story about Greenland is written in the genes of the island’s sled dogs. A new genomic analysis, published July 10 in Science, suggests that humans (and their sled dogs)…
Category: Animals
As bird flu evolves, keeping it out of farm flocks is getting harder
H5N1 bird flu isn’t going away. In fact, the virus continues to spin off new versions that outcompete their predecessors, posing a challenge for keeping it from jumping into people,…
This bug’s all-in helicopter parenting reshaped its eggs
Parents will fret, even among bugs. And even among bugs, it’s complicated. Ferociously protective parenting has evolved four times among the pointy-faced, wide-bodied little leaf dwellers called shield bugs, researchers…
Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin
A brush with kelp may help some killer whales clean up nicely. A group of killer whales (Orcinus orca ater) residing in the Salish Sea off the coast of British…
50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror
One June 20, 1975, a fictional great white shark stalked beachgoers on Amity Island — and struck terror into moviegoers around the world. Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel,…
U.S. seal populations have rebounded — and so have their conflicts with humans
Aaron Tremper is the editorial assistant for Science News Explores. He has a B.A. in English (with minors in creative writing and film production) from SUNY New Paltz and an…
Compare shark sizes on our infographic
Since Jaws was released 50 years ago, great white sharks have, arguably, become the most recognized fish in the ocean. But despite their fame, they’re not the biggest shark species.…
This moth species may use the Milky Way as its guiding star
One kind of Australian moth looks to the stars on its voyage to a summertime refuge. Stellar cues from the Milky Way’s bright band may help Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa)…
Fewer scavengers could mean more zoonotic disease
Scavengers often get a bad rap — hyena giggles are nefarious, crows gather in “murders” and the naked necks of vultures speak for themselves. But the bodies of the dead…
This spider’s barf is worse than its bite
A single drawing from a 94-year-old scientific paper has revived interest in one of the more roundabout ways a spider preps its dinner. First swathe a fruit fly or other…
