WEIRD ANIMALS
Scientists uncover two explanations for its dramatic final act. By Emma Betuel – Zombification may be the stuff of science fiction for humans, but for insects, getting zombified is a very real threat. Scientists and Planet Earth afficionados may recall the cases …
An animal behaviorist explains the science behind a “dogpersonship.” By Paul McGreevy – The news of a fatal dog-bite incident in Melbourne recently has shocked dog lovers around the country. A 61-year-old man was dead by the time police arrived at the …
There’s a very good reason we spend a third of our lives passed out. By Sarah Sloat – Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it: No, they don’t fall in love, they sleep. However, exactly why all animals with …
At least one species can switch from female to male within ten days. By Sarah Sloat – For the majority of organisms, sex is not something that can be changed. This is not true, however, for a fish called the bluehead wrasse. These …
They’re hiding in your house, carrying germs, and now there’s virtually no way to kill them. By Matt Davis – Not only are German cockroaches a major health concern, but they reproduce rapidly and are notoriously difficult to eradicate. A new study shows …
“A very small amount of stuff has a very big effect.” By Emma Betuel – When a pufferfish is filleted, one wrong slip of the knife can turn the seaborne delicacy deadly. Even in death, the pufferfish’s natural poison, called tetrodotoxin, is more …
By Michael Irving – A red-eyed tree frog was one of the amphibian species observed during an expedition to the Lost City of the Monkey God in Honduras. (Credit: Trond Larsen). In 2012, centuries-old legends of a lost city in Honduras were …
“I wouldn’t take that risk.” By Sarah Sloat – Like a buzzing embodiment of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” periodical cicadas emerge from the ground in swarms after spending more than a decade below ground. Some, however, encounter an attacker during their crawl …
Future cancer research may come from studying antler growth. By Mike Colagrossi – While sequencing the genomes of some 44 ruminants — among them cows, giraffes, and other mammals that have chambered stomachs for plant digestion — Chinese scientists closely studied those that …
Scorpions, slugs, and Dracula ants, oh my. By Sarah Sloat – While we’re seemingly surrounded on this world by fantastic fauna and flora, we don’t actually have a great sense of all the critters that are out there. Scientists estimate that more than …
