Animals
- Life
Bolder snails grow stronger shells
Bold snails have tougher shells than shy snails. Understanding what drives snails to develop such differences is a bit of a challenge.
- Animals
Finland’s brown bears on surprise fast track to recover diversity
Brown bears in southern Finland show surprisingly fast improvements in genetic diversity and connections with other bears.
- Animals
When mom serves herself as dinner
For this spider, extreme motherhood ends with a fatal family feast.
- Animals
Whether froglets switch sexes distinguishes ‘sex races’
Rana temporaria froglets start all female in one region of Europe; in another region, new froglets of the same species have gonads of either sex.
- Animals
Tales of the bedbug, one of the world’s most reviled insects
‘Infested’ captivates with stories about the bloodsucking insects. Resurgent in many areas in the United States, bedbugs are the fastest-growing moneymaker in pest control.
- Animals
Gazing deeply into your dog’s eyes unleashes chemical attraction
Dogs and people gazing into each other’s eyes give each other a bond-strengthening rush of oxytocin.
- Life
Octopuses move with uncoordinated arms
An octopus crawls unlike any other animal. Mimicking the cephalopod’s control over its movements may lead to more agile robots.
- Animals
How many manatees live in Florida?
The most recent official count reports more than 6,000 manatees in Florida waters, but a new estimate may give a better picture of the population.
- Animals
Shimmer and shine may help prey sabotage predators’ aim
Iridescent prey was more difficult to strike in a video game for birds.
- Genetics
Contagious cancer found in clams
A soft-shell clam disease is just the third example of a contagious cancer.
- Animals
Tiny sea turtles are swimmers, not drifters
Young green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles moved in different directions than instruments set adrift in the sea, which shows the animals were swimming.
- Animals
Dealing with droughts, museums going digital and more reader feedback
Readers share their experiences with dry weather in the U.S., discuss how humans mentally sort quantities and more.
