Rats are extremely playful creatures. They love playing chase, and they literally jump for joy when tickled. Central to this playfulness, a new study finds, are cells in a specific…
Category: Animals
How geometry solves architectural problems for bees and wasps
Honeybees and yellow jackets don’t look much like mathematicians — for one thing, they’re smaller. But collectively, the insects can solve a common architectural conundrum using a geometric solution that…
Some African birds follow nomadic ants to their next meal
COIMBATORE, India — To better understand Equatorial Guinea’s tropical birds, ornithologists Luke Powell and Patricia Rodrigues scan the ground rather than the trees. They are searching for nests of driver…
Some birds are using antibird spikes to build their nests
Luis Melecio-Zambrano is the summer 2023 science writing intern at Science News. They are finishing their master’s degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where they…
Explore the past, present and future of ‘Eight Bears’
Eight BearsGloria DickieW.W. Norton & Co., $30 Bears have long been considered family. “Stories of a familial bear exist in almost every human culture that shares territory with the animal,”…
Rats sense the wind with antennae-like whiskers above their eyes
Many rodents use whiskers to feel their way around their world. But rats appear to take this one step further, using special, antennae-like whiskers above their eyes to sense subtle…
These researchers are reimagining animal behavior through a feminist lens
When Ambika Kamath was a graduate student in evolutionary biology at Harvard University, she knew one thing for sure: She wasn’t going to research anoles, the lizards that her adviser,…
Static electricity can pull ticks on to their hosts
You don’t need to touch a tick for it find you, a new study suggests. The blood-sucking parasites may be able to catapult themselves from vegetation to their hosts thanks…
Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species
The aptly named resplendent quetzal is prized for its plumage. Golden poison frogs are popular creatures in the pet trade. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy, and their scales are…
Young squash bugs seek out adults’ poop for an essential microbe
For young squash bugs, a sip full of feces can help the microbes go down. Squash bugs (Anasa tristis) are a major agricultural pest, and a bacterial partner called Caballeronia…
