Wildlife

The challenges of finding fruit may have driven the evolution of bigger brains in our primate ancestors

New Research

What Really Made Primate Brains So Big?

A new study suggests that fruit, not social relationships, could be the main driver of larger brains

Fascinating: How Transparent Glass Frogs Mate

First, the female collects water from a leaf in order to hydrate the eggs inside her. then releases them for the male to fertilize

Outside of the U.S., international whale capture is alive and well.

What Will It Take to End International Killer Whale Capture?

The West may have rejected whale captivity, but the painful relationship between humans and orcas is far from over

Elephants Can Afford to Be Picky About This Kind of Fruit

A single marula tree can provide up to 1.5 tons of fruit each season--as much as 90,000 fruits

Could the Tiny Zebrafish Teach Us to Cure Blindness?

By learning how zebrafish regenerate their retinas, researchers could figure out how to help humans do the same

Why 10 Daily Tons of Ant Poop Keep This Rainforest Thriving

The soil in the rainforests of Barro Colorado is packed with nutrients, but where does it come from?

From the same DNA, different genders can boast dramatically different characteristics. Dung beetles are helping scientists understand how.

New Research

What Dung Beetles Can Teach Us About Sexual Difference

When it comes to sex appeal, it's not all in your genes (it's also in your proteins!)

This year's spring migration has already begun and is expected to continue now through late May.

American South

The Best Places in the U.S. to See Spring's Migrating Birds

Get out your binoculars—birds are making their annual trek north

The heroes of the movie Kong: Skull Island prepare to encounter the 104-foot-tall ape King Kong.

Science in the Movies

How Big Can a Land Animal Get?

King Kong's biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

How the Desert Oryx Stops Its Brain From Frying

How does the desert-dwelling oryx survive a body temperature that would kill other mammals? The answer lies in a panting mechanism

What Lions Look for in the Perfect Prey

For lions hunting buffalo in the Manyeleti, calculation is always at play: An adult male buffalo may be harder to bring down

Adorable Ground Squirrels Playing in Sweltering Heat

Ground squirrels in the Kalahari have devised a remarkable method to guarantee portable shade: they use their tails as umbrellas

While excavating at Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon during the 1970s and 1980s, Canadian archaeologist Cinq-Mars found cut-marked horse bones and other traces of human hunters that seemed to date to 24,000 years ago—thousands of years before the Clovis people.

What Happens When an Archaeologist Challenges Mainstream Scientific Thinking?

The story of Jacques Cinq-Mars and the Bluefish Caves shows how toxic atmosphere can poison scientific progress

Surfers take to the water in Montauk, where a shark nursery was discovered offshore last summer.

Future of Conservation

Can Social Media Give Sharks a Better Reputation?

A nonprofit called Ocearch is naming tagged sharks and giving them Twitter and Instagram accounts to ease fears and aid in conservation

The Kirtland’s warbler is one of North America’s most endangered bird species.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Scientists Track, For the First Time, One of the Rarest Songbirds on Its Yearlong Migration

The journey of the Kirtland’s warbler is discovered thanks to a combination of the latest tiny technology and centuries-old solar location methods

Incredible: A Cheetah Sprints to Catch a Springbok

A cheetah mother caring for her cubs stumbles across an opportunity too good to pass up: a herd of springbok, grazing casually nearby

Watch a Male Seahorse Give Birth to Hundreds of Babies

Male seahorses are the ones who carry children and give birth. And when they do, they can produce up to 2,000 babies at one time

Emissions from steel production in eastern China are fertilizing nearby oceans.

Age of Humans

Human Pollution May Be Fertilizing The Oceans. That’s Not a Good Thing

Our iron emissions from coal and steel may be fuelling ocean life, and trapping carbon in the process

The beauty of this mutant strain of the fungus Trichoderma reesei belies the organism’s potential for dismantling biomass.

Art Meets Science

Scientists Make Art From Objects Invisible to the Naked Eye

Sophisticated microscopes, satellites and other instruments can create stunning images in experts’ hands

Page 52 of 134