Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

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...

Sep 30, 2018

Adorable Newborn Sea Monster from the Dinosaur Age Discovered in Kansas

About 85 million years ago, when a vast sea covered Kansas, a wee, little sea monster died almost immediately after it was born. Despite its short life, this newborn, which head to tail, was as long as André the Giant was tall (well, it was tiny compared to its parents)...

Sep 30, 2018

Dinosaur-Era Super-Piranha Terrorized Jurassic Seas

A piranha-like fish with a mouth full of pointy teeth (some even jutting down from the roof of its mouth) once swam the Jurassic seas, ripping flesh or even fins from the bodies of other aquatic creatures. That was 152 million years ago, a new study of a fossil of...

Sep 30, 2018

Exquisitely Preserved Lungs from 120 Million Years Ago Stun Scientists Studying Early Bird

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ancient organs rarely fossilize, so paleontologists were stunned to find the incredibly well-preserved remains of a lung that belonged to bird from the dinosaur age. Initially, scientists were excited to describe the specimen of Archaeorhynchus spathula, a bird that lived about 120 million years ago, because its...

Sep 30, 2018

Bats: Fuzzy Flying Mammals

As the only mammal that can fly, there's no doubt that bats are exceptional creatures. Common misconceptions and fears about bats have led many people to regard these nocturnal flyers as nothing more than frightening disease carriers, but bats are crucial for a healthy environment. Bats disperse seeds, eat loads...

Aug 31, 2018

'Lucky' Raccoon Survives 9-Story Leap from Building

Did word get out that raccoons scaling buildings is a thing? Seems that way. This past June, a raccoon made Earthlings swoon when the masked daredevil scaled 23 stories up a vertical concrete wall in St. Paul, Minnesota, all the way to the safety of the roof. Now, perhaps a...

Aug 31, 2018

This Was the World's Largest Bird. It Weighed As Much As a Dinosaur.

The world's largest bird — a newly identified species of elephant bird — weighed as much as a dinosaur when it strutted around Madagascar more than 1,000 years ago, a new study finds. This monster bird is now extinct, but it weighed as much as 1,760 lbs. (800 kilograms), or...

Jun 30, 2018

Man Tries to Smuggle 19 Raptor Eggs Through Heathrow Airport — And 2 Hatched

It's unusual for airport security to need to pull aside a traveler for carrying eggs in their waistband, but that's exactly what happened at Heathrow Airport in London, the HuffPost reported. It turns out the eggs weren't tucked away so they could later become smelly airplane snacks. These eggs held...

May 31, 2018

How Long Do Tardigrades Live?

Tardigrades are probably the most paradoxical animals on the planet. On the one hand, these microscopic organisms are impossibly cute, seeming like tiny blimps that bumble around harmlessly on their stubby legs. But they also enjoy a legendary reputation as the toughest, most indestructible creatures on Earth. Just 0.04 inches...