animals
Rich data on the global state of our feathered friends presents plenty of bad news — but also some bright spots.
If you think you know what sex, gender, and “the right thing to do” for trans youth and adults are, be sure it agrees with actual science.
Tardigrades can completely dehydrate and later rehydrate themselves, a survival trick that scientists are harnessing to preserve medicines in hot temperatures.
Energy balance is the greatest arbiter of weight gain. Embrace the “oinker diet.”
Numerous videos online show that squid undergo a dramatic color-changing effect after being stunned or killed.
The intensely white coloration of the shrimp is a remarkable feat of bioengineering.
Within a month of that initial conversation, Peter Singer became a vegetarian.
The first-of-its-kind approval could change how we think about gene-edited foods.
500 sheep were slaughtered to produce the 2,060 pages of the “Codex Amiatinus,” a Latin translation of the Bible.
The “island rule” hypothesizes that species shrink or supersize to fill insular niches not available to them on the mainland.
The discovery has enormous implications for the development of novel anti-anxiety medications.
Billy was a local celebrity in the early 1900s. And he might have been a murderer.
Nobody knows where the word “penguin” comes from.
The puzzle of play
The purpose of play — for children, monkeys, rats or meerkats — has proved surprisingly hard to pin down. Scientists continue to toss around ideas.
By studying the oldest animals, researchers hope to pinpoint factors affecting human longevity.
Most male mammals have little or nothing to do with their kids. Why is our own species different?
Climate and ecological changes, as well as disruptions to the food chain, were already killing off the dinosaurs.
Bees learn and culturally transmit their communication skills.
The jail environment teaches the animals that approaching humans results in a boring and annoying experience.
At least one of Earth’s creatures is able to survive the vacuum of space.
In all mammals, there are two brain pathways for processing information from the eyes: an evolutionarily ancient one and a more modern one.
Deep underwater, temperatures are close to freezing and the pressure is 1,000 times higher than at sea level.
Darwin missed an amazing example of evolution.
Baby mice can regenerate damaged hair cells — and now that we know how they do it, maybe we can, too.
Two populations that are geographically separated today once mated a very long time ago.
It’s sustainable, nutritious and delicious. Scientists need to ramp up efforts to meet this urgent need.