Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2011

Humans Hardwired to Respond to Animals

A part of your brain is hardwired to respond to animals, whether cute and fluffy or ugly and threatening, a new study has found. A research team showed pictures of people, landmarks, animals or objects to epilepsy patients, who were already wired up so doctors could watch brain activity related...

Aug 31, 2011

'Switchblade' Claw Reveals How Dino Fought and Killed

Battle damage linked to the fearsome curving talon of a newly discovered dinosaur relative of Velociraptor is shedding light on how it was used as a weapon, scientists find. This research also adds to the mysterious complexity seen in the lost continent where this fossil was found, researchers added. The...

Aug 31, 2011

To Sex-Starved Squid in the Dark, Either Gender Will Do

Meeting girls is tough if you're a male squid living in the deep, dark waters off the coast of California. You may run across your own species only rarely — and when you do, the deep-sea gloom makes it hard to tell whether your new pal is a guy or...

Aug 31, 2011

True Colors of Ancient Beetles Revealed

Even after being locked in rock for millions of years, some ancient beetle fossils retain a metallic rainbow sheen. But a new study finds that these bugs undergo changes during fossilization that makes them look slightly redder than they did in life. Beetles flash some of the most intense colors...

Jul 31, 2011

Giant Rat Kills Predators with Poisonous Hair

By utilizing the same plants that African tribesmen use to poison their arrows, the furry fury known as the African crested rat can incapacitate and even kill predators many times its size, researchers have found. This is the first mammal that is borrowing a deadly poison from a plant and...

Jul 31, 2011

Gigantic Birds Trod Earth During Age of Dinosaurs

An enormous bird, taller than an adult human, walked the Earth (and maybe flew above it) more than 80 million years ago, according a newly discovered fossilized jaw. The finding suggests oversize birds were more common during the Age of Dinosaurs than scientists thought. Scientists have long known that birds,...

Jul 31, 2011

Tiny Dinosaurs Left Footprints On Ancient South Pole

Several groups of dinosaurs that were roaming the South Pole more than 100 million years ago left three-toed prints in the wet, sandy soil. As they became compacted into cliffs, the prints waited patiently for Anthony Martin of Emory University to stumble across them in what is now Victoria, Australia....

Jul 31, 2011

Can We Make Jurassic Park Yet?

Find an ancient mosquito trapped in amber. Draw dinosaur blood from its belly. Extract DNA from that blood and insert it into a crocodile embryo. Hatch the egg. Feed the dino. Start an amusement park. Don't open the gates. That series of steps might have sounded pretty fanciful back in...

Jul 31, 2011

In Photos: Birds of Prey

In Photos: Birds of Prey (Image credit: George Gentry | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)Birds of prey, including hawks, falcons, owls and eagles, such as the bald eagle above, are also known as raptors because they use their claws instead of their beaks to capture prey. They are meat-eaters with...

Jul 31, 2011

In Vitro Fertilization May Help Older Cheetahs Reproduce

Good news for the dwindling cheetah population; despite aging, the eggs of cheetahs older than 8 years appear to remain in good condition, scientists have found. Those of us who work with cheetahs have anecdotally noted that it's hard to reproduce older cheetahs, but this is the first time anyone...

Jul 31, 2011

Florida Cold Snap Devastated Coral Reefs

A 2010 cold snap in Florida caused widespread coral death in the reefs along the state's coast, a new study finds. In fact, the mortality rates from the cold were higher than in any other event on record. It was a major setback, said study researcher Diego Lirman, a professor...

Jul 31, 2011

Tasmanian Tigers Wrongly Convicted of Killing Sheep

The now-extinct Tasmanian tiger was hunted out of existence in the early 1900s for killing Australian farmers' sheep. But a new study finds that the tiger was framed. In fact, the animals' jaws were so weak that they likely couldn't have hunted anything larger than a possum. The Tasmanian tiger,...

Jun 30, 2011

Marla Spivak: A Scientist With A Real Bee In Her Bonnet

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. How do we study bees and why are they disappearing? How are scientists working to save them? Marla Spivak — a MacArthur Fellow and Distinguished McKnight Professor and extension entomologist in the Department of...

Jun 30, 2011

What the Heck Is This?

Anyone who knows what the thing that this is a close-up of will have no trouble guessing what it is. A lot of people will guess something similar but miss the mark just slightly, I bet. Need a hint: I think not, today. See the full-size image below and an...

Jun 30, 2011

Chimpanzees Dogged By Image Problem

Chimpanzees have an image problem. The portrayal of these great apes in commercials, movies and greeting cards may lead people to perceive them as appealing potential pets and overlook their endangered status, a new study indicates. A survey of 1,203 people showed that specific features of an image — in...