Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2008

Superfast Muscles Power Songbird Singing

Some songbirds can contract their vocal muscles with the fastest muscle movements yet described — about 100 times faster than humans can blink an eye, according to new research. The study found that two types of songbirds produce their tunes with superfast muscles, similar to those used by rattlesnakes, several...

Jun 30, 2008

Great White Shark Claimed at 'Jaws' Site

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) _ The island where Jaws was filmed had a real-life shark scare Thursday, when an unconfirmed sighting of a great white forced the closure of two beaches. South Beach on Martha's Vineyard was closed for a short time, and swimmers were kept out of the water at...

Jun 30, 2008

Lead Shot From Hunting and Fishing Kills Wildlife

Millions of pounds of lead used in hunting, fishing and shooting sports wind up in the environment each year and can threaten or kill wildlife, according to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey. Lead has long been known to be damaging to biology. It's previous use in gasoline,...

Jun 30, 2008

Snake Venom Changes with Age, Location

Like people with an accent, snakes from different regions pack different venom. A new study finds that antivenoms, the drugs created to combat snake bites in humans, need to take these chemical differences into account. Scientists have known for many decades that venom of snakes of the same species can...

Jun 30, 2008

The Surprising History of America's Wild Horses

Modern horses, zebras, and asses belong to the genus Equus, the only surviving genus in a once diverse family, the Equidae. Based on fossil records, the genus appears to have originated in North America about 4 million years ago and spread to Eurasia (presumably by crossing the Bering land bridge)...

Jun 30, 2008

U.S. Auctions Wild Horses Online

The Bureau of Land Management is running an online adoption of wild horses through July 30 in the ongoing effort to curb the burgeoning population of these surprisingly widespread beasts. The creatures, which roam 10 Western states in 200 herds, have no natural predators and are protected by the federal...

May 31, 2008

Humans Likely Making Chimps Sick

Humans are likely the source of a virus that is making chimps sick in Africa, new research suggests. After studying chimpanzees in Tanzania for the past year, Virginia Tech researcher Taranjit Kaur and her team have obtained data from molecular, microscopic and epidemiological investigations that demonstrate how the chimpanzees living...

May 31, 2008

Why Female Chimps Shout or Shut Up During Sex

Female chimps often cry out during sex to attract nearby males, but they keep quiet when other females are around so they don't alert their competition, a new study finds. The function of copulation calls made by female primates (a group that includes lemurs, monkeys, and apes, such as humans...

May 31, 2008

Birds Kill Siblings, Hormones Blamed

If you ever felt at least metaphorically like you wanted to kill your brother or sister, your sibling is lucky you're not a booby. A Nazca booby, a Galápagos Island seabird, is eager and able to kill a sibling in the nest. A new study links the murderous behavior to...

May 31, 2008

Creature Sets Record for Living Fast, Dying Young

You think kids today are immature? A species of chameleon in Madagascar spends most of its lifespan incubating inside its shell. After four or five months out in the world, it dies. Total pre-hatching and post-hatching existence: about 1 year. In fewer than 60 days, body size for males can...

Apr 30, 2008

Birds Babble Like Babies

Baby birds are like baby humans on at least one score: they both babble. But as songbirds grow up, they make the switch from babbling to singing by flipping to a different brain circuit, new research finds, suggesting a new view of human infant behavior. We should toss out the...

Apr 30, 2008

Slow Down: Whale Crossing

The thirteen buoys of the Right Whale Listening Network listen for endangered right whales crossing shipping channels, and provide a warning to ships to slow down. The smart buoys were developed at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The busy shipping lanes in Massachusetts Bay (and...

Apr 30, 2008

Frogs Go Ultrasonic for Sex

Keep the racket down, I’m trying to find a mate! That could be the plea of nocturnal Chinese tree frogs, which have developed unique, high-frequency vocal skills to make themselves heard by potential mates in their noisy habitat. The frogs' sounds are no mere ribbits, but ultrasound squeaks designed to...

Apr 30, 2008

Huge Flying Reptiles Ate Dinosaurs

With a name like T. rex, you'd expect to be safe from even the fiercest paleo-bullies. Turns out, ancient, flying reptiles could have snacked on Tyrannosaurus Rex babies and other landlubbing runts of the dinosaur world. A new study reveals a group of flying reptiles that lived during the Age...

Mar 31, 2008

How Humans Outlive Rats

Humans are built to last. Rats, not so much. A newly discovered body clock apparently ticks much faster in rats, snuffing out their lives tens of years earlier than humans. This biological rhythm, which tends to cut short the lives of smaller animals and let big creatures live longer, should...