Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 31, 2013

Man Arrested for Harassing Baby Manatee in Florida

A man has been arrested in Florida after posting pictures on Facebook that showed him harassing a baby manatee, authorities announced this week. The incriminating images show Ryan William Waterman, 21, and his two children petting a manatee calf at Taylor Creek in Fort Pierce last month, according to the...

Jan 31, 2013

Harnessing The Power Of Peacocks To Make Colorful Images

(ISNS) -- The gloriously colored, iridescent feathers of the male peacock aren't what they seem on the surface. They look that way largely because the feathers contain nanometer-scale protein structures that break up incoming light waves, recombine, and reflect them as rich, vibrant colors. Scientists at the University of Michigan...

Jan 31, 2013

Nut-Cracking Monkeys Show Humanlike Skills

Nut-cracking monkeys don't just use tools. They use tools with skill. That's the conclusion of a new study that finds similar tool-use strategies between humans and Brazil's bearded capuchin monkeys, which use rocks to smash nuts for snacks. Both monkeys and humans given the nut-smashing task take the time to...

Dec 31, 2012

Endangered Beluga Whales See Slight Population Uptick

A rare group of beluga whales in Alaska saw a slight increase in numbers last year, a survey showed. Scientists estimated that the population of Cook Inlet belugas stood at 312 in 2012, compared with a record low 278 in 2011, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)...

Dec 31, 2012

How City Blackbirds Shout Over Traffic

City-dwelling blackbirds typically produce more high-pitched songs than their country counterparts, and researchers say the urban birds prefer shrill sounds to make their voices heard over road traffic. For their study, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany looked at urban blackbirds in Vienna and country blackbirds...

Dec 31, 2012

A Whale of a Boat Ride Caught on Video

What would you do if an animal the size of a submarine wanted to give you the once-over? An inflatable boat full of tourists found out recently in Hawaii, when two humpback whales circled their boat for at least 10 minutes, according to a report by Hawaii News Now. The...

Dec 31, 2012

Biggest Dinosaurs Had Brains the Size of Tennis Balls

An advanced member of the largest group of dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth still had a relatively puny brain, researchers say. The scientists analyzed the skull of 70-million-year-old fossils of the giant dinosaur Ampelosaurus, discovered in 2007 in Cuenca, Spain, in the course of the construction of a high-speed...

Dec 31, 2012

More Velociraptor-Like Dinos Than Thought

Millions of years ago, there may have been three times as many species of tiny, flesh-tearing dinos roaming the United States and Canada than previously believed, researchers say. Only seven species of small, two-legged carnivores had been identified from the period between 85 and 65 million years ago, just before...

Dec 31, 2012

Why Aren't Turkey Eggs Sold at the Grocery?

As you pick up your turkey at the grocery store this week, you might wonder why you never see the birds' eggs for sale. Gobbling turkeys do lay eggs. But selling them in grocery stores would have its drawbacks. Turkey eggs’ small numbers and big size make them less practical...

Dec 31, 2012

Chimps Learn Tool Use by Watching Others

Chimpanzees can learn to use tools more efficiently by watching how others use them, new research suggests. The findings help illuminate ways that culture could evolve in nonhuman animals. Social learning is very important to maintaining a culture, study researcher Shinya Yamamoto, of Kyoto University in Japan, told LiveScience. For...

Nov 30, 2014

Bushfires Give Predators the Advantage

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Bushfires are a part of life in Australia, and when they have run their course we pick up where we left off and carry on. But if you happen...

Oct 31, 2014

Insect Family Tree Maps 400-Million-Year Evolution

Creating a family tree that dates back more than 400 million years and details the evolution of the most diverse group of animals on the planet is no easy feat, but one ambitious group of scientists has done just that. The first-ever comprehensive evolutionary tree of insects was recently created...

Oct 31, 2014

47-Million-Year-Old Pregnant Mare Sheds Light on Ancient Horses

When a thirsty pregnant horse drank from a freshwater lake 47 million years ago, she was unaware that poisonous volcanic gases might lead to her sudden demise. Now, the fossilized remains of the mare and her tiny, unborn foal are revealing new insights into reproduction in ancient horses, including surprising...

Oct 31, 2014

Giant Armored Dinosaurs Breathed Through 'Krazy Straw' Airways

Carrying around an exoskeleton of bony armor is hard work. But armored ankylosaurs figured out a way to shoulder the load and stay cool. These Cretaceous dinosaurs had Krazy Straw nasal passages that helped them air-condition their brains, according to a new study. These heads are just covered with bone...

Sep 30, 2014

Newfound South American Predator Snacked on Little Dinosaurs

A puma-sized predatory dinosaur that may have snacked on its smaller cousins while stomping about an ancient rift valley dotted with erupting volcanoes has been discovered in Venezuela. The finding could shed light on the evolution of all carnivorous dinosaurs, researchers say. The newfound fossil, from a dinosaur named Tachiraptor...