Jan 16 300 million years ago, our ancestors walked tall. This robot shows you how By Vicky Stein The fictional Sherlock Holmes could read footprints — in soil, snow, carpet, dust and even blood. Researchers today are similarly using tracks caught in stone — plus a robot — to recreate a creature that lived 300 million years ago. Continue reading
Jan 04 Cities could be teeming with more rats, thanks to the shutdown’s festering trash By Jamie Leventhal Rats could get access to an all-you-can-eat buffet of garbage during the government shutdown as uncollected trash piles up. Continue reading
Dec 26 As polar bear attacks increase in warming Arctic, Inuits and scientists search for solutions By Gloria Dickie, Yale Environment 360 With sea ice reduced, polar bear attacks are rising. Concerned Inuit communities want to increase hunting quotas, but researchers are testing new technologies they hope will reduce these often deadly confrontations. Continue reading
Dec 20 If you’re adopting pets this holiday, keep kittens in mind By Gabriela Quirós, KQED Science Every year, hundreds of thousands of kittens end up in animal shelters, in need of permanent homes. So researchers and shelters are trying to figure out ways to make it easier. Continue reading
Jul 17 Why are yawns contagious? We asked a scientist By Teresa Carey The average adult yawns 20 times per day. And when you feel a yawn coming on, it can be nearly impossible to suppress. But why does being around other yawners make you yawn?… Continue reading
Jul 05 Spiders fly on the currents of Earth’s electric field By Amanda Grennell Spiders don’t have wings, but they can fly across entire oceans on long strands of silk. For more than a century, scientists thought it was the wind that carried them, but a new study shows the Earth’s electric field can… Continue reading
Jun 10 Killing sharks, wolves and other top predators won’t solve conflicts By Robert Lennox, Austin Gallagher, Euan Ritchie, Steven J. Cooke, The Conversation When humans have conflicts with wildlife, the first reaction is often to cull them. But there's little evidence that it works. Continue reading
Apr 26 Which are smarter, cats or dogs? We asked a scientist By Rashmi Shivni Are cats smarter? Or are dogs? When scientists counted the brain cells in these animals, there was a clear winner. But the latest research on animal intelligence challenges all of the old-school notions of what it means to be smart. Continue reading
Jan 24 Finding a complete dolphin skeleton to study isn’t easy, unless you have a dolphin graveyard By Rashmi Shivni, Teresa Carey This dolphin and whale graveyard may hold the secrets to cetacean lifestyles. Continue reading
Jan 10 Watch 3:23 How animal cameras are capturing Seattle’s wild side By PBS News Hour In our NewsHour Shares moment of the day, researchers are peeking into the lives of animals who are trying to make it in the big city. Using strategically placed cameras, they’re trying to answer how urban life affects wild animals… Continue watching