
Animals
Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin
The whales use quick body movements to tear pieces of bull kelp for use as tools, perhaps the first known toolmaking by a marine mammal.
Every print subscription comes with full digital access
The whales use quick body movements to tear pieces of bull kelp for use as tools, perhaps the first known toolmaking by a marine mammal.
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
A plastic structure separates white noise into pitches, like a rainbow splits light into colors, offering a novel way to manipulate sound.
Nashville Zoo flamingos reveal the oddball birds generate many types of vortices to eat. The swirls could be an inspiration to human engineers.
This assassin bug's ability to use a tool — bees’ resin — could shed light on how the ability evolved in other animals.
At 300 light-years away, the interstellar cloud is the closest of its kind ever found to Earth and the largest apparent single structure in the sky.
These hands-on displays might be used to create more immersive video games, educational tools and museum exhibits.
Dubbed the “bone collector,” this caterpillar found on a Hawaiian island disguises itself while stalking spider webs for trapped insects to eat.
As thousands of bats launch nightly hunting, the cacophony of a dense crowd should stymie echolocation, a so-called “cocktail party nightmare.”
Some question whether the pups are really dire wolves, or just genetically tweaked gray wolves. But the technology could be used to help at-risk animals.
A phenomenon called liquefaction, which causes the ground to slump like quicksand, led to significant damage after the Myanmar earthquake. The risk of aftershock remains high.
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.
Not a subscriber?
Become one now.