Animals
These worms move faster when you give them less space
California blackworms can squeeze through narrow channels faster than they can wriggle across wide ones, a finding that may help with robot design.
Animals
More Stories in Animals
- Paleontology
Once upon a time, insects had 24 legs
A many-legged oddball from long ago helps fill a major gap in the fossil record — and hints at how insects ended up with just six legs.
- Animals
Heat therapy for sick frogs lowers sperm levels
Scientists often use thermal treatment to combat fatal fungal infection in frogs, but it may come at a cost.
- Neuroscience
Motor neurons don’t just move muscles. They may direct that motion too
A fruit fly study shows motor neurons do more than relay commands: They send signals back to the brain and organize movement sequences.
- Animals
A new documentary shows what growing up lion is really like
The thrilling National Geographic series, premiering August 19, follows Kio from lion cub to king.
- Animals
Shrews’ noses grow in winter as their brains shrink
Long-clawed shrews’ snouts temporarily grow larger in the winter. This skull reshaping may be an extreme survival strategy in cold conditions.
- Animals
Snail slime does many jobs thanks to calcium
Snails have five distinct types of mucus, each with its own job. The mollusks tweak calcium secretions to get the chemical mixture just right.
- Animals
Too many choices complicate female frogs’ sex lives
In the lab, female frogs were less likely to choose preferred males as mating calls increased, potentially giving other males a better shot.
- Animals
Sad or afraid? Dogs may be able to read your face
A new brain-imaging study suggests that dogs may be able to distinguish between certain negative human emotions just by looking at people’s faces.
- Health & Medicine
Bullfrogs may have an antidote to deadly shellfish poisoning
Researchers injected mice with a protein derived from frogs to save them from the same kind of shellfish poisoning that affects people.
