Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2017

Shark Week: How to Watch It Like a Scientist

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your television, the Discovery Channel's Shark Week and National Geographic Wild's SharkFest are hitting the air with competing daily...

Jun 30, 2017

Why a New York Bay Is Crucial to Baby Sand Tiger Sharks

Dr. Merry Camhi is director of the WCS New York Aquarium's New York Seascape Program, an initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Society. She has a doctorate in ecology from Rutgers University. Camhi contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Yes, it's that special time again —...

Jun 30, 2017

Rare 'Balloon Syndrome' Causes Hedgehog to Puff Up Like a Beach Ball

That's what happened to a wild hedgehog in Scotland — named Zepplin by his rescuers at the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) — who was suffering from a rare condition called balloon syndrome. Zepplin was spotted by the roadside on July 23 and the...

May 31, 2017

Pets Help in Hospitals, But Safety May Be Lacking

A visit from a golden retriever can brighten a person's day when in the hospital or in a senior-care facility. But the policies for pet therapy programs in health care facilities may fall short in protecting the people and pets involved, a new study suggests. Researchers found that hospitals typically...

Apr 30, 2017

Awww! 12 Incredible Interspecies Moms in the Animal Kingdom

Different species? No problem (Image credit: Grigorita Ko/Shutterstock)Mother's Day is a time to celebrate the important role that moms play in the lives of their children. But human mothers aren't the only ones worth celebrating. There are plenty of hardworking mothers in the animal kingdom that also deserve recognition for...

Feb 28, 2017

Photos: Dinosaur Tracks Reveal Australia's 'Jurassic Park'

Jurassic Park (Image credit: Damian Kelly)In an effort to save their culture's history, the Goolarabooloo people of Australia called in a group of paleontologists to examine thousands of dinosaur footprints. The Goolarabooloo view the fossilized, three-toed track marks as evidence of a journey taken by one of people's creation beings....

Feb 28, 2017

'Sharknado' Down Under? Cyclone Debbie Deposits Shark on a Street

Forget about the Sharknado film series. A town in Australia experienced a real-life shark-cyclone of sorts when a shark washed up on the street after Cyclone Debbie hit the area, according to news reports. The tropical cyclone hit the Australian state of Queensland this week, with heavy rainfall causing flash...

Nov 30, 2018

Climate Change Is Making Sharks Right-Handed

The team of biologists from Macquarie University in Sydney knew from previous research that warming ocean temperatures alter the way fish grow and develop. The researchers wanted to find out whether these changes would also affect fish behavior — specifically, whether sharks raised in a tank warmed to projected end-of-century...

Nov 30, 2018

Here’s Why Scientists Are Poring Over Ancient Alpaca Poo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Traces of 1,000-year-old poop in Peruvian soil could reveal the history of alpaca domestication in the region. Researchers analyzed sediments from cores extracted from lakes in southeastern Peru. They were looking for chemical fingerprints of compounds called sterols, which appear when cholesterol is broken down during digestion,...

Nov 30, 2018

10 Times Humans Were Total Morons Around Animals in 2018

Are we really the most intelligent species? (Image credit: Shutterstock)Judging by the way some people behave around animals, it's a wonder how humans have made it so long on this planet. From breaking into animal enclosures at zoos to thinking it's a good idea to hand-feed a shark, there are...

Nov 30, 2018

10 Times Animals Behaved Oddly in 2018

Oddball animals of 2018 (Image credit: Shutterstock)Scientists have been studying the animal kingdom for hundreds of years, and while many mysteries remain, it's pretty clear that animal behavior is consistently inconsistent, and occasionally, just plain weird. From a sexually frustrated dolphin to a duck with 76 ducklings in tow, here...

Oct 31, 2018

How Do Squirrels Remember Where They Buried Their Nuts?

Few things symbolize the onset of fall quite so well as the sight of a squirrel scampering around a park, industriously burying nuts. As the weather cools and the leaves turn, squirrels engage in this frantic behavior to prepare for the upcoming shortages of wintertime. But have you ever wondered...

Oct 31, 2018

Divers Surprised by Gorgeous 'Feather Boa' of the Sea. And the Video Is Glorious.

The resulting film shows a floating feather boa of the sea, properly known as a pyrosome. The 26-foot-long (8 meters) tube is not a single creature, according to The Washington Post, but rather a colony of tiny creatures called tunicates. I've always wanted to see one, videographer Steve Hathaway told...

Oct 31, 2018

How Did That Big Cow Get So Huge?

The internet literally had a cow yesterday when news of a giant steer in Australia spread across the interwebs like a fire set by a cow kicking over a lantern. The famous steer (a male cattle that's been neutered) is named Knickers. He's 7 years old, weighs more than 3,000...

Sep 30, 2018

Corked Tiger Wine? Enter to Win This Book on Wildlife Smuggling

Have you ever sailed on a rickety boat with a poacher as he checks his traps for wild pangolins and otters in Vietnam? Or, have you interviewed a businessman at a busy restaurant to learn why he uses ground-up rhino horn? Rachel Nuwer has, and she's detailed her adventurous travels...