Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2010

Earth's Penguins Skating on Thin Ice

If the harrowing plight of emperor penguins portrayed in the film March of the Penguins looked bad, it's nothing compared with the dire straits faced by many other penguin species. Of the 18 penguin species on Earth, 13 are considered either threatened or endangered, with some species on the brink...

Aug 31, 2010

Why Do Bird Flocks Move in Unison?

Every autumn, flocks of birds begin to migrate to warmer territories. But how do they stay in such perfect formation? The impressive, perfectly timed flight maneuvers of bird flocks, as well as their symmetrical group formation, can be summed up in a simple model, according to researchers from Budapest, Hungary....

Aug 31, 2010

Bloodsucking Warrior Worms Destroy and Eat the Enemy

Parasitic worms may possess warrior castes just as social insects do — fearsome soldiers that rip and swallow enemies with their mouths to protect their colonies. These bloodsucking worms could shed new light on how sociality evolved, researchers said. Trematodes are parasitic flatworms commonly known as flukes. These flattened oval...

Aug 31, 2010

National Zoo Artificially Inseminates Asian Elephant

In an attempt to further conservation efforts for the Asian elephant, veterinarians at the Smithsonian National Zoo have performed a series of artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi, a 34-year old Asian elephant. A successful pregnancy would be an important milestone in the zoo's commitment to Asian elephant conservation, zoo officials...

Jul 31, 2010

Why Do Squirrels Chase Each Other?

The sight of squirrels vivaciously chasing each other across a park lawn or spiraling down a tree trunk is one that everyone is familiar with. But why do they do it? There are several reasons why squirrels play tag, and a lot depends on the age and the sex of...

Jul 31, 2010

Dry Pet Food Linked to Human Salmonella Outbreak

To avoid food-borne illness, don't feed Fido in the kitchen. That's the advice of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who reported in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics that an outbreak of salmonella in 79 people between 2006 and 2008 was caused by contaminated dry...

Jul 31, 2010

Mug Shots: 10 Lost Amphibians

Lost Amphibians Gastric Brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus). (Image credit: John Wombey/ARKive/Conservation International.)Scientists are on the look-out for lost amphibians animals considered possibly extinct but that may be holding on in a few remote places. There may be up to 100 of them hiding in the world's forests. Here are just...

Jul 31, 2010

'Ribbit Radio' Helping to Root Out Frog-census Errors

You may not be able to catch any tunes on Ribbit Radio, but the system itself will help catch errors in a survey of frogs and other amphibians throughout North America. The survey, started by the U.S. Geological Survey and called the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, relies on volunteers...

Jul 31, 2010

Mice Learn to Sniff Out Bird Flu

Mice in a Pennsylvania lab recently passed a significant, if potentially unpleasant, smell test when they learned to detect the odor of bird flu infection in duck droppings. This feat builds on previous evidence that animals can sniff out disease, and it raises hopes that trained animals — most likely...

Jun 30, 2010

Is Bug Spray Dangerous?

A summer necessity, bug spray keeps insects away – but is it also bad for our health? Researchers are debating whether the anti-pest sprays with which we douse ourselves are putting our health in danger. One chemical found in many repellents is DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide). Developed and tested in the 1940s...

Jun 30, 2010

Fireflies' Synchronous Flashes Are Booty Calls, Study Reveals

The beautiful, but seemingly random, blinking patterns of fireflies have been decoded. Turns all, it's all about love. Scientists have been attempting to understand the purpose of large groups of fireflies' mysterious synchronized flashes since the 1930s. A new experiment, the first ever to create a virtual environment for fireflies...

Jun 30, 2010

Are Any Animals Monogamous?

Monogamy is a rare bird in the animal kingdom, but some creatures do stay faithful forever. It seems most of these couples stay together for the kids. Sometimes offspring take a lot more care than can be provided by the mother alone , said Marlene Zuk, an evolutionary biologist at...

Jun 30, 2010

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?

Woodpeckers hit their heads up to 20 times a second. But muscles, bones and an extra eyelid protect their small bird brains. Strong, dense muscles in the bird's neck give it strength to repeatedly thump its head. But it is extra muscles in the skull that keep the bird from...

Jun 30, 2010

Discovered: The Biggest Rat That Ever Lived

Watch out Heathcliff, there's a rat out there bigger than you. Or at least there was. Just a couple thousand years ago, the world's largest rat, weighing more than the average house cat, scuttled about what is now East Timor of Southeast Asia. The skeletal remains of the robust rodent...

May 31, 2010

Why Are Bedbugs Such a Problem?

Bedbugs are stubborn little beasts. They are a growing problem in cities across the United States, and experts are unsure of the safest way to go about exterminating these pesky insects. The federal government recently rejected Ohio officials' request to use an industrial pesticide to fight household infestations of bedbugs....