When building a bird nest in ant territory, the best defense could be an offensive fungus. Swollen-thorn acacia trees are aggressively defended by multiple species of ants. And yet, several…
Category: Animals
‘Night Magic’ invites you to celebrate the living wonders of the dark
Night MagicLeigh Ann HenionAlgonquin Books, $30 I feel like I’ve been out all night. In my mind, I’ve been walking the mountains and meadows of the Appalachian region after dark.…
This fish has legs — and it uses them for more than just walking
It’s a bird! It’s a crab! No, it’s a fish that can taste with its legs. Some sea robins, a group of fishes with two winglike fins and six crablike…
Scientists have just turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells
With roughly 2,000 giant pandas remaining in the wild, scientists have spent the last several decades looking for new ways to help the iconic black-and-white bears stave off extinction. And…
Ants changed the architecture of their nests when exposed to a pathogen
Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can…
Some healthy fish have bacteria in their brains
Some fish have bacteria on the brain. Wild and lab-grown members of the salmon family including European rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and Gila trout harbor active microbial communities inside their…
Mega El Niños kicked off the world’s worst mass extinction
Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can…
Bumblebees lose most of their sense of smell after heat waves
Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can…
Scientists piece together clues in a shark ‘murder mystery’
Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can…
How an arthropod pulls off the world’s fastest backflip
Move over, Simone Biles. Nature’s gold medalist for backflips is a millimeter-tall arthropod that can barely straddle the tip of a pencil. Despite its size, the globular springtail (Dicyrtomina minuta)…
