Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2013

As Constrictor Attacks Continue, Look to the Snake Trade (Op-Ed)

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This Op-Ed is adapted from a post on the blog A Humane Nation, where the content ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. A New York area animal control...

Sep 30, 2013

Humans and Rats Think Alike After Making Mistakes

When it comes to learning from mistakes, humans and rats think alike, research suggests. In a study that tracked how humans and their rodent cousins adapted to errors during a time estimation task, the two species showed similar brain activity in the medial frontal cortex (MFC), which sends signals that...

Aug 31, 2013

After 2,500 Studies, It's Time to Declare Animal Sentience Proven (Op-Ed)

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the pioneering cognitive ethologists in the United States, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. This essay is adapted from one that appeared in Bekoff's column Animal Emotions...

Aug 31, 2013

Dogs Become New Treatment for a War that Never Ends (Op-Ed)

Vanessa Woods is a research scientist at Duke University and the co-founder of Dognition, a website that helps owners find the genius in their dogs. She is also the co-author of the New York Times Bestseller The Genius of Dogs. She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed &...

Aug 31, 2013

A Blueprint for Ending the Euthanasia of Healthy Animals (Op-Ed)

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This Op-Ed is adapted from a post on the blog A Humane Nation, where the content ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. At The HSUS, we are working...

Aug 31, 2013

Dogs to Prairie Dogs, Animals Need Rescue from Disaster (Op-Ed)

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This Op-Ed is adapted from a post on the blog A Humane Nation, where the content ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The HSUS responds to natural disasters...

Aug 31, 2013

How Cute! Trilobites Curled Up in Self-Defense

About 513 million years ago, a creature curled up like a pill bug to protect itself from predators, a recently-discovered fossil suggests. The new discovery is the oldest evidence that trilobites rolled up in self-defense so early in their evolutionary history. Until now, it was thought that this group was...

Aug 31, 2013

Goosefish Lays Billowy Veil Holding 1 Million Eggs

Goosefish, also known as monkfish, may be among the most aesthetically challenged creatures around, but when the homely bottom-feeders lay their eggs, they create something beautiful: a gauzy, billowy veil that drifts in the ocean for days. On Monday afternoon (Sept. 23), a female monkfish at the New England Aquarium...

Jul 31, 2013

Step-by-Step Progress Protecting Tennessee Walking Horses (Op-Ed)

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This Op-Ed first appeared on the blog A Humane Nation, where it ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The HSUS is making steady progress in its campaign to...

Jul 31, 2013

Long Time, No See: Dolphins Remember Long-Lost Buddies for Decades

Just like people, dolphins remember old friends for decades, new research suggests. After a 20-year separation, dolphins in the study recognized the identifying whistles of other animals that were once housed with them, according to a new study published today (Aug. 6) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society...

Jul 31, 2013

Enormous Mako Shark Stomach Dissected

What do mako sharks eat? To find out, you have to look inside their stomachs. Shark scientist Antonella Preti recently dissected the largest mako shark stomach she's ever encountered — and she's seen a lot of shark stomachs. To date, Preti has dissected more than 2,000 swordfish and shark stomachs,...

Jul 31, 2013

Abused Puppies Get More Sympathy Than Adult Crime Victims

People have more empathy for abused puppies and dogs than they do for adult humans who have been abused, a new study suggests. However, empathy for abused children was about the same as that for puppies and dogs, the study found. Researchers surveyed 240 college students and asked them to...

Jul 31, 2013

Mokele-Mbembe: The Search for a Living Dinosaur

Mokele-mbembe supposedly resembles an apatosaurus, which lived more than 65 million years ago. (Image credit: Linda Bucklin Shutterstock)Everyone knows that the dinosaurs died out a while ago — in fact, more than 65 million years ago, give or take. Massive, powerful, and awe-inspiring, they have been popular for years, appearing...

Jul 31, 2013

Caterpillar Can Hop for 3 Days in Leafy 'Sleeping Bag'

Hop over, Mexican jumping beans: Scientists have discovered another fascinating caterpillar species with impressive jumping skills. During its larval stage, the moth Calindoea trifascialis crawls the dry forest floors of southern Vietnam amongst elephants and flying insects, spending most of its time chewing away at a protective, tent-like structure it...

Jul 31, 2013

Shark-Fin Soup Losing its Status as Shark Populations Decline (Op-Ed)

Christine Xu is a programassistant in the China Program and Energy & Transportation Program for the Natural Resources Defense Coundil (NRDC). This post is adapted from one that appeared on the NRDC blog Switchboard. Xu contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Ever since Jaws inflicted a...