Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2015

Animal Sex: How Manatees Do It

Despite their languid nature and bulky bodies, manatees are surprisingly graceful in their watery habitat. But do the mating behaviors of these so-called sea cows rival the elegance of synchronized swimmers, or are the mammals even more cowlike than meets the eye? Manatees are generally solitary animals. Females (cows) are...

Nov 30, 2015

Micro Porcupines to Snow Leopards: WCS's Favorite Wildlife Photos of 2015

Stephen Sautner is WCS executive director of communications; Max Pulsinelli is director of communications for WCS's zoos and aquarium; Julie Larsen Maher is staff photographer for the WCS and the first woman to hold the position since the society's founding in 1895. In addition to documenting conservation work in some...

Oct 31, 2015

How a Family Dog May Lower a Child's Asthma Risk

Children who are raised in households with dogs or farm animals during their first year of life may have a lower risk of asthma a few years later, a new study suggests. In the study, the researchers looked at early exposure to dogs and farm animals and the rate of...

Oct 31, 2015

Humpback Whales Make Migration Pit Stops at Underwater Mountains

Underwater mountains are key stopovers in the migratory routes of an endangered population of humpback whales in the South Pacific, new research shows. Humpback whales are found in all of the world's oceans, from icy to tropical waters. They migrate farther than any other mammal, traveling great distances from their...

Aug 31, 2015

Ancient Peru Tar Pools Trapped Hundreds of Songbirds

A dusty, windy desert in extreme northwestern Peru was once a grassland, replete with hundreds of songbirds. But this grassland, which may have been dotted with seasonal dry forests, was also a trap. Tar seeps bubbling up from the oil-rich ground snared animals, including saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and jaguars....

Jul 31, 2015

Snake in the Grass! Huge Everglades Python Shows Invasive Issue

A giant python — about as long as a shipping container — that was captured in Everglades National Park in Florida earlier this month has now been euthanized, authorities say. The accidental finding of this snake shows how easily even huge pythons can remain hidden in Florida's swampy south, experts...

Jul 31, 2015

Walking Dead: How Wasp Overlords Control Spider Zombies

Like a mindless zombie controlled by a menacing overlord, the spider scampers back and forth, reinforcing its silky web. Not long from now, the subservient arachnid will be dead, its web transformed into a shelter for the spawn of the creature that once controlled it, according to a new study....

Jul 31, 2015

10 extinct giants that once roamed North America

Until the end of the last ice age, American cheetahs, enormous armadillo-like creatures and giant sloths called North America home. But it's long puzzled scientists why these animals and other megafauna — creatures heavier than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) — went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Rapid warming periods called...

Jun 30, 2015

Spidey Senses Tingling! Arachnids Feel Sex

Spider sex just got a little more interesting. Researchers now find that the spider equivalent of the penis isn't numb like once believed; it's filled with nerves that might help the spider ensure fertilization. Male spiders mate using specialized appendages called pedipalps, which end in structures called palpal organs. The...

Jun 30, 2015

Myth Debunked: Boa Constrictors Don't Suffocate Prey to Death

Boa constrictors are notorious for their deadly grip, squeezing their next meal until it expires. But scientists have long wondered whether this fatal hug kills prey by suffocation or by obstructing blood flow in the snake's victims. Now, a new study finds that rats attacked by boas don't die from...

Apr 30, 2015

Male Snakes Spend Mega Calories When They Mate

Every spring, red-sided garter snakes leave their hibernation burrows to engage in a frenzied jumble of mating. But a new study finds that doing the deed is no easy feat for males; in fact, they can spend up to a whopping 18 percent of their daily energy making special plugs...

Mar 31, 2015

Songbirds Emerge for Spring, But Is the Timing Off? (Essay)

Naomi Eide is a master's student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Just before dawn, birds wreak havoc on the stillness, cackling and calling to the world that spring has...

Jan 31, 2015

Watch Very '80s Footage of 'Shark Lady' Eugenie Clark at Work

This week, ocean explorers mourned the loss of a legend in their field: Eugenie Clark, a marine biologist and authority on sharks. She was just one of those rare people that kept going until the day she disappeared, Fabien Cousteau told Live Science. That's really the true definition of passion....

Dec 31, 2014

What Beagles Reveal about Alzheimer's in Humans

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Every 67 seconds someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and new estimates suggest that it may be the third leading cause of death of older...

Dec 31, 2014

Surprise! Fish Lurk in Antarctica's Dark Underworld

In a cold and dark underwater world, where a never-ending rain of rocks keeps the seafloor barren, researchers were startled to find fish, crustaceans and jellyfish investigating a submersible camera after drilling through nearly 2,500 feet (740 meters) of Antarctic ice. The swimmers are in one of the world's most...