How do woodpeckers avoid brain injury?
WEIRD ANIMALS
Grey seals spotted clapping underwater for the first time
By Nick Lavars – The idea of seals clapping may not seem all that surprising, but it has never been observed underwater in the wild before. Paradoxdes/Depositphotos. – Different creatures seek to attract mates in different ways, whether that be a peacock spreading …
Engineered bacteria immunize bees against cause of colony collapse
By Michael Irving – A honeybee with a parasitic Varroa mite attached to its back. Alex Wild / University of Texas at Austin. – The world is losing huge numbers of honeybees to colony collapse disorder (CCD), which has devastating implications for global ecosystems …
Scientists discovered four new species of sharks that walk
By Scottie Andrew, CNN – So — some sharks walk. Just not the scary ones. While great whites haunt the deep, walking sharks are content to scuttle in the shallows. – They’ve been walking, or something close to it, for at least 9 …
Florida’s Weather Forecast? Cold, With a Chance of Iguanas
Stunned by chilly weather, the invasive lizards were dropping out of trees in the Sunshine State. Despite how this iguana looks, it is actually not dead, just cold-stunned. It will likely thaw-out as the sun warms it back up. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel …
Huge ‘hot blob’ in Pacific Ocean killed nearly a million seabirds
Thousands of bodies washed up on North America’s Pacific coast. Study finds common murres probably died of starvation. Dead common murres lie washed up on a rocky beach in Whittier, Alaska, on 7 January 2016. Photograph: Mark Thiessen/AP – By Kenya Evelyn in …
Cows Communicate With Unique Moos
A new study has found that the animals use distinct vocalizations across a range of emotional contexts. Researcher Alexandra Green, recording cows (Lynne Gardner/University of Sydney). By Brigit Katz, Smithsonianmag.com – Should you encounter a herd of cows munching on a field of …
Brain Parasite Strips Rodents of Fears of Felines—and So Much More
Toxoplasma gondii infections don’t just make mice afraid of cats. They get reckless with all sorts of other stuff, too. For decades, researchers have known that mice infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii lose their fear of cats. But there may be more …
The mystery of how birds navigate is over, and the answer is so amazing
It’s the first time magnetoreception has been discovered in animals, researchers claim. By Philip Perry – Migrating geese. Credit: Getty Images. One of the longest running mysteries is exactly how birds navigate when they fly south for the winter or back come …
Grandmas may be key to species survival, says new study
New research on killer whales may shine a light on the evolutionary power of menopause. Photo Credit: Dan Antoche-Albisor / Getty Images. By Molly Hanson – New research on killer whales suggests that post-menopausal grandmothers play a powerful role in the survival of …