Science News
Science News
Articles from Science News
sciencenews.orgSinging mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs
To serenade with their high-pitched songs, singing mice inflate a throat sac — a use for air sacs seemingly unknown in any other animal.
Giant, kraken-like octopuses may have ruled the Cretaceous deep
The kraken — a gigantic, tentacled sea monster capable of dragging ships and sailors down into the depths — is a creature of Norwegian myth. But millions of years ago, a similar real-life animal lurked in the deep.
Sweat bees turn a greenish color in muggy weather
North American sweat bees change color depending on the surrounding humidity. It might be a more widespread phenomenon among insects.
Got pesky, invasive corals? Blast ‘em away with air guns
Invasive corals are getting blown out of the water — with undersea air guns. While corals around the world are dying in vast numbers due to ocean acidification, climate change, overfishing and disease, invasive counterparts such as sun corals are taking over biodiversity hotspots.
This kea parrot is the first-known disabled alpha male
With half a beak, Bruce has developed an innovative fighting style that has won the kea top status in his flock, videos and documented interactions reveal.
An endangered mouse may need a helping hand to adapt to climate change
Pacific pocket mice are geographically isolated, but the species may retain the genetic diversity needed to adapt to climate change.
Treetop toilets may act as communication hubs across mammal species
The strangler fig is a keystone species in the tropics, providing food and shelter, and a place to poop for 17 different mammal species.
New mutations help the H5N1 bird flu virus infect cows but not people
The findings show how the H5N1 bird flu virus is evolving in livestock and what that may mean for human health.
AI and tech advances may soon enable talking with animals
Advances in decoding animal sounds might someday make animal translators a possibility.
Nearly 1 in 5 gray whales die after entering the San Francisco Bay
Climate change could be forcing gray whales to seek food in San Francisco Bay, where vessel strikes may be driving rising deaths.
A new book finds parenting inspiration in the animal kingdom
Looking to creatures from burying beetles to spotted hyenas, The Creatures’ Guide to Caring explores what it means to be a good parent.
Cicadas use darkness cues from shadows to move toward trees
When periodical cicadas surface after years underground, they don’t grope blindly for trees. They head for the shadows , researchers report March 20 in the American Naturalist .
Fossil reveals that an early relative of spiders had claws
A stunningly preserved fossil shows that early relatives of spiders and scorpions were already armed with their hallmark front claws about half a billion years ago.
Secrets of the Bees zooms in on life in a hive
At the edge of a wildflower meadow sits an unassuming tan box with a pitched roof. But a closer look reveals the box is buzzing with activity — literally. The warmth of spring has awoken honeybees within this hive. Inside, a baby bee emerges from her wax cell, the first new bee of the year.
How snakes defy gravity to stand tall
Tree-climbing snakes might localize control instead of stiffening their whole body.
Modern apes may have actually evolved in North Africa or the Middle East
Fossil jaw remains found in Egypt suggest that the earliest modern apes evolved in North Africa, not in East Africa where most fossils have been found.
Watch the first video of a sperm whale birth captured by scientists
It takes a village to deliver a whale calf. The birth of a sperm whale has been captured on camera in more intimate detail than ever before!
When were dogs domesticated? The oldest known dog DNA offers clues
Dogs in Europe had been domesticated from wild wolves by at least 14,200 years ago, two new genetic studies suggest. Both studies use ancient DNA recovered from fossil dog bones to revise the early history of domestic dogs.
Female giant rainforest mantises grow up to strike harder than males
Scientists tracked mantis strike force from youth to adulthood, showing females eventually hit far harder than males. Why is a mystery.
Mosquitoes’ butt cells tell them when to stop biting
Mosquitoes have an appetite dampener in their derrières. When mosquitoes’ bellies are full, special cells in their rectums block their bloodthirst , researchers report March 20 in Current Biology . The finding may unlock a way to stop the insects from biting in the first place.
Sharks are ingesting drugs in the Bahamas
Nearly one third of sharks studied near the Bahamas’ Eleuthera Island were found to have caffeine, painkillers and other drugs in their bloodstreams.
Platypuses share a surprising fur feature with birds
Platypuses just got weirder. As if a mammal that lays eggs, senses electricity with its bill and fluoresces isn’t enough of a headscratcher, now it appears platypuses also share a feature with birds.
Wild monkeys invaded Florida. Should people protect them?
A colony of African vervets in Dania Beach raises big questions about how humans can and should manage nonnative species.
Why African striped mice can be the best of dads — or the worst
The difference between a doting dad and a deadbeat one may come down to a molecular switch in the brain — at least in African striped mice.
The Amazon molly — a sex-skipping fish — hacks evolution
The Amazon molly is an evolutionary enigma: an all-female fish that reproduces by cloning itself. Because it doesn’t mix its DNA with a mate’s, Darwinian logic holds that harmful mutations should pile up over time, eventually driving the species extinct.
Singing mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs
To serenade with their high-pitched songs, singing mice inflate a throat sac — a use for air sacs seemingly unknown in any other animal.
Giant, kraken-like octopuses may have ruled the Cretaceous deep
The kraken — a gigantic, tentacled sea monster capable of dragging ships and sailors down into the depths — is a creature of Norwegian myth. But millions of years ago, a similar real-life animal lurked in the deep.
Sweat bees turn a greenish color in muggy weather
North American sweat bees change color depending on the surrounding humidity. It might be a more widespread phenomenon among insects.
Got pesky, invasive corals? Blast ‘em away with air guns
Invasive corals are getting blown out of the water — with undersea air guns. While corals around the world are dying in vast numbers due to ocean acidification, climate change, overfishing and disease, invasive counterparts such as sun corals are taking over biodiversity hotspots.
This kea parrot is the first-known disabled alpha male
With half a beak, Bruce has developed an innovative fighting style that has won the kea top status in his flock, videos and documented interactions reveal.
An endangered mouse may need a helping hand to adapt to climate change
Pacific pocket mice are geographically isolated, but the species may retain the genetic diversity needed to adapt to climate change.
Treetop toilets may act as communication hubs across mammal species
The strangler fig is a keystone species in the tropics, providing food and shelter, and a place to poop for 17 different mammal species.
New mutations help the H5N1 bird flu virus infect cows but not people
The findings show how the H5N1 bird flu virus is evolving in livestock and what that may mean for human health.
AI and tech advances may soon enable talking with animals
Advances in decoding animal sounds might someday make animal translators a possibility.
Nearly 1 in 5 gray whales die after entering the San Francisco Bay
Climate change could be forcing gray whales to seek food in San Francisco Bay, where vessel strikes may be driving rising deaths.
A new book finds parenting inspiration in the animal kingdom
Looking to creatures from burying beetles to spotted hyenas, The Creatures’ Guide to Caring explores what it means to be a good parent.
Cicadas use darkness cues from shadows to move toward trees
When periodical cicadas surface after years underground, they don’t grope blindly for trees. They head for the shadows , researchers report March 20 in the American Naturalist .
Fossil reveals that an early relative of spiders had claws
A stunningly preserved fossil shows that early relatives of spiders and scorpions were already armed with their hallmark front claws about half a billion years ago.
Secrets of the Bees zooms in on life in a hive
At the edge of a wildflower meadow sits an unassuming tan box with a pitched roof. But a closer look reveals the box is buzzing with activity — literally. The warmth of spring has awoken honeybees within this hive. Inside, a baby bee emerges from her wax cell, the first new bee of the year.
How snakes defy gravity to stand tall
Tree-climbing snakes might localize control instead of stiffening their whole body.
Modern apes may have actually evolved in North Africa or the Middle East
Fossil jaw remains found in Egypt suggest that the earliest modern apes evolved in North Africa, not in East Africa where most fossils have been found.
Watch the first video of a sperm whale birth captured by scientists
It takes a village to deliver a whale calf. The birth of a sperm whale has been captured on camera in more intimate detail than ever before!
When were dogs domesticated? The oldest known dog DNA offers clues
Dogs in Europe had been domesticated from wild wolves by at least 14,200 years ago, two new genetic studies suggest. Both studies use ancient DNA recovered from fossil dog bones to revise the early history of domestic dogs.
Female giant rainforest mantises grow up to strike harder than males
Scientists tracked mantis strike force from youth to adulthood, showing females eventually hit far harder than males. Why is a mystery.
Mosquitoes’ butt cells tell them when to stop biting
Mosquitoes have an appetite dampener in their derrières. When mosquitoes’ bellies are full, special cells in their rectums block their bloodthirst , researchers report March 20 in Current Biology . The finding may unlock a way to stop the insects from biting in the first place.
Sharks are ingesting drugs in the Bahamas
Nearly one third of sharks studied near the Bahamas’ Eleuthera Island were found to have caffeine, painkillers and other drugs in their bloodstreams.
Platypuses share a surprising fur feature with birds
Platypuses just got weirder. As if a mammal that lays eggs, senses electricity with its bill and fluoresces isn’t enough of a headscratcher, now it appears platypuses also share a feature with birds.
Wild monkeys invaded Florida. Should people protect them?
A colony of African vervets in Dania Beach raises big questions about how humans can and should manage nonnative species.
Why African striped mice can be the best of dads — or the worst
The difference between a doting dad and a deadbeat one may come down to a molecular switch in the brain — at least in African striped mice.
The Amazon molly — a sex-skipping fish — hacks evolution
The Amazon molly is an evolutionary enigma: an all-female fish that reproduces by cloning itself. Because it doesn’t mix its DNA with a mate’s, Darwinian logic holds that harmful mutations should pile up over time, eventually driving the species extinct.
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