A few hours in high temps reduced the ability of antennae to detect flower scents by 80 percent. That could impact the bees’ ability to find food. ... Read full Story
By Science News | Jason Bittel | 9/3/2024 12:15 AM
A missing porbeagle shark was likely killed by a great white. It’s the first known case of adult porbeagles being hunted by a predator, scientists say. ... Read full Story
By Science News | Jason Bittel | 8/28/2024 11:00 AM
Hairs on the toes of Mexican free-tailed bats fluoresce under UV light, a new study reports. The function of the toe glow is unknown. ... Read full Story
By Science News | Jake Buehler | 8/28/2024 9:00 AM
A recent expedition to the intersection of two undersea mountain chains has revealed a new seamount and a rich world of deep-sea biodiversity. ... Read full Story
By Science News | Abby Wallace | 8/23/2024 9:00 AM
National Geographic’s documentary series ‘OceanXplorers,’ produced by James Cameron, invites you aboard one of the most advanced research vessels in the world. ... Read full Story
By Science News | Jake Buehler | 8/20/2024 9:00 AM
Caves made by extinct giant ground sloths make the perfect home for a newly discovered type of long-spinneret ground spider from Brazil. ... Read full Story
Male fireflies trapped in the spider’s web flash femalelike lights, possibly luring in other flying males and allowing the arachnid to stock up on food. ... Read full Story
The fossil, plus 17 others from more than 500 million years ago, reveal that early mollusks were slug-like creatures with prickly armor. ... Read full Story
After tasting nausea-inducing toad butts, crocodiles in Australia learned to avoid the poisonous live version. Crocodile deaths dropped by 95 percent. ... Read full Story
Birds that are willing to eat seed spiked with chicken poop have higher expression levels of a gut immunity gene, a new study finds. ... Read full Story
Evolving immunity to the Bd fungus and a reintroduction project saved a California frog. The key to rescuing other species might be in the frog’s genes. ... Read full Story
Tracking data show that Desertas petrels often veer toward cyclones and follow in their wake, perhaps to catch prey drawn to the surface. ... Read full Story
Electrostatically charged lepidopterans could draw pollen out of flowers without touching the blooms, computer simulations suggest. ... Read full Story
Researchers want to harness the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis to ferry drugs, but some question if the risks can be eliminated. ... Read full Story
"Like clouds, the shapes of our galaxy’s glittery nebulae are sometimes in the eye of the beholder. They can look like all sorts of animals: tarantulas, crabs, a running chicken, and now, a cosmic koi swimming through space." — Laura Baisas, PopSci.com, 13 June 2024
Did you know?
The history of nebula belongs not to the mists of time but to the mists of Latin: in that language nebula means "mist" or "cloud." In its earliest English uses in the 1600s, nebula was chiefly a medical term that could refer either to a cloudy formation in urine or to a cloudy speck or film on the eye. Nebula was first applied to great interstellar clouds of gas and dust in the early 1700s. The adjective nebulous comes from the same Latin root as nebula, and it is considerably older, being first used as a synonym of cloudy or foggy as early as the 1300s. Like nebula, this adjective was not used in an astronomical sense until centuries later.