Science

Birds don’t fly across wide Amazonian rivers like the Rio Negro.

How Amazon Rivers Play a Role in the Evolution of Birds

Rivers are natural boundaries for evolving populations. But scientists don't agree whether they create new species or just help maintain them.

Deciding what, exactly, constitutes a wilderness in the ocean is not completely figured out, though some researchers are trying to find an answer.

Why the Ocean Needs Wilderness

A new study finds that only 13 percent of the ocean can be classified as "wilderness." But what does this even mean?

Fears materialized when a series of deadly botulism cases struck unassuming consumers throughout the country.

The Botulism Outbreak That Gave Rise to America’s Food Safety System

In late 1919 and early 1920, scientists and canners worked with the government to protect the public from the deadly toxin

One of the meg's fearsome teeth, shown here in this extreme close-up.

The Real Science Behind the Megalodon

As <I>The Meg</i> hits theaters, dive into what we <i>really</i> know about this chompy predator

Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, where Homo floresiensis remains were discovered in 2003. Nearby is a village where the pygmies live.

New Research

A New Genetic Study Suggests Modern Flores Island Pygmies and Ancient Hobbits Are Unrelated

The island dwarfism effect seems to have occurred independently in each population, thousands of years apart

When Bsal first arrived in the Netherlands, the pathogen wiped out 96 percent of the resident population of fire salamanders in a few years.

How American Scientists Are Planning to Thwart a Salamander Apocalypse

Yet another fungus threatens to decimate amphibians in North America, but this time, scientists stand ready

The Santa Monica State Beach is an allegory of North American consumerism. Every morning, cleaners collect chip bags, takeout containers, plastic straws, and more, hiding tonnes of trash from beachgoers who may never know the magnitude of the problem.

Are We Grooming Beaches to Death?

Urban beaches worldwide have less garbage than remote beaches, but less life too. The City of Santa Monica hopes to change the image of a clean beach.

Fathers can communicate their priorities through a growing fetus, which can express a set of paternal instructions that increase future care from mothers.

How Dad's Genes Can Prepare Mom for Parenthood

Even fathers who don’t provide childcare to their offspring have a way of securing their kids’ futures—by ramping up mom’s hormones

Could spider plants alert you of carbon monoxide, or even the flu, lurking in your home?

Could Houseplants Keep Tabs on the Health of Your Home?

Researchers at the University of Tennessee look at the possibility of using plants as biosensors to detect dangers like mold or radon

A butcher in Meizhou, China

Will China's Growing Appetite for Meat Undermine Its Efforts to Fight Climate Change?

The country consumes 28 percent of the world's meat—twice as much as the United States. And that figure is only set to increase.

Closeup of a stomatopod crustacean

Why Mantis Shrimps, Not Sharks, Might Be the Most Amazing Predators in the Sea

The crustaceans have superpowers other animals can only dream of

A starfish and barnacles along the side of a formerly sunken wall

A Photographer Documents the Effects of Climate Change on Maine's Intertidal Zones

A marine biology student at Northeastern University captures the vulnerable organisms that have to survive high and low tide

A fisher from a small-scale fishery in Honduras hooks a yellowtail snapper—a species of fish that may vary its shape depending on where it's sourced.

To Pinpoint the Origin of a Fish, Check Out Its Physique

A new cost-effective tool may help small-scale fisheries simply and accurately determine the origins of a day's catch.

A Clever Cuttlefish Goes in for the Kill

In a sandy gully, a school of razorfish are being stalked by an invisible predator and a master of disguise: the crafty cuttlefish

For sperm, there's a vas deferens between start and finish, but the epididymis is what alters these swimmers en route.

Dads Pass On More Than Genetics in Their Sperm

Seminal research reveals that sperm change their cargo as they travel the reproductive tract—and the differences can have consequences for fertility

Anolis scriptus, the Turks and Caicos anole, on Pine Cay

Lizards With Bigger Toes and Smaller Hind Legs Survive Hurricanes

A serendipitous study comparing the physical traits of lizards before and after 2017's hurricane season shows natural selection in action

Scientists don full-body suits to minimize contamination and disturbance of the precious artifacts uncovered in the 1617 church in Jamestown, Virginia, where a new skeleton awaits identification.

A Jamestown Skeleton is Unearthed, but Only Time—and Science—Will Reveal His True Identity

Jamestown Rediscovery archeologists use new technology to uncover the bones of one of the first English colonists

Would your pup come to your rescue?

Why the Most Helpful Dogs Keep Calm and Carry On

Dogs are willing to overcome obstacles to help people in distress—as long as they keep their cool

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