Biology

These Clever Parrots Can Understand Probability

Scientists studying kea, New Zealand’s alpine parrot, revealed that the famously mischievous birds could understand probabilities, an impressive mental feat. The pair of researchers put six birds through a series of trials to see how they made decisions when faced with uncertainty. When prompted to choose, the kea generally opted for scenarios where they were…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Paleontologists Are Skeptical About Baby Dinosaur Cells Supposedly Found in Fossil

With our deepest regrets to the Jurassic Park franchise, DNA does not preserve well, and no genetic data has ever been recovered for dinosaurs. Recent news suggesting that scientists have found dinosaur DNA certainly sounds exciting, but it’s an extraordinary claim that warrants skepticism. Fossils of baby duck-billed dinosaurs (Hypacrosaurus stebingeri) have yielded traces of…

Biology George Dvorsky

Cat Food Foils Scientists

Outdoor domestic cats are a conservation concern as invasive and effective predators that prey on wildlife around the world. Introduced cats are responsible for the extinction of at least 63 bird, reptile and mammal species in the past 500 years. Scientists had hoped to study the impact of cats on their environment by studying their…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Your Dog’s Ice-Cold Nose May Be a Sensor for Detecting Heat at Distance

The amazing canine nose is more impressive than we thought, demonstrating the ability to detect weak infrared radiation from a distance, according to new research. The rhinarium—the cold, wet, bare tip of a dog’s snout—is capable of sensing weak thermal radiation, according to new research published today in Scientific Reports. The canine nose, therefore, in…

Biology George Dvorsky

Red Pandas Might Actually Be Two Species

Scientists think they’ve helped settle a debate over one of the most endangered (and cutest) animals around: the red panda. New genetic evidence suggests there are really two different species of red panda, each with a unique evolutionary history. Red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are the only mammals of their kind, though they are closely related…

Biology Ed Cara

Solar Storms Could Confuse Whales and Cause Mass Strandings

Gray whales seem to strand themselves more often during solar storms, according to a new study. Researchers still don’t know exactly how whales navigate the ocean’s dark depths during their epic migrations, and it’s difficult to study them in action. But recently, scientists discovered that sperm whale strandings in Europe’s North Sea seemed to correlate…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

This Noodle-Fingered Robot Is a Friend to Jellyfish

Forget flies—this robot is so gentle, it wouldn’t hurt a jellyfish. Which is saying a lot, since the gelatinous lifeform is especially prone to damage, according to David Gruber, a marine biologist at City University of New York. “Some of them fall apart just when they’re in your hand,” he said. “They’re this fragile ball…

Biology Marion Renault

Photo: JENNIFER LEIGH WARNER / CATERS NEWS

Here Are Some Gulls Playing With a Dildo

Conservation photographer Jennifer Warner visited the Children’s Pool in La Jolla, California on Tuesday in order to photograph the pupping harbor seals that have taken up residence on the beach. She soon noticed some juvenile gulls chasing each another around and causing a ruckus; one of them had what she thought at first was a…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Bird That Looks Like It Died Yesterday Turns Out to Be 46,000 Years Old

On Jacquelyn Gill’s first day doing field work at the Siberian permafrost caves during the summer of 2018, a local fossil hunter approached her with a dead bird in his hands. The translator hadn’t yet arrived, but from the freshly dead look of the bird, Gill assumed it had just recently flown into the cave…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

These Birds Learned to Avoid Yucky Food by Watching Videos on the Computer

Wild-caught birds in Finland seemingly learned to avoid certain foods by watching videos of other birds eating the snacks and reacting negatively, according to a new study. Some prey come in bright colors to advertise to predators that they’re poisonous and to attract and sicken naive predators. But if a new brightly colored animal enters…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Researchers See Eagle Torturing Bat by Repeatedly Dropping It in the Ocean

White-bellied sea eagles are majestic, keen-eyed predators that soar effortlessly above coastal forests and marshes. They can also be colossal jerks. These eagles were recently spotted tormenting an innocent fruit bat, repeatedly carrying it out to sea and dropping it into the waves. In 2017, Sheema Abdul Aziz, a conservation ecologist with the Rimba research…

Biology Jake Buehler

How I Discovered a 40-Million-Year-Old Whale in Kitchen Limestone

Late one night last September, I received a phone call from a stranger. The man, the owner of a stone-cutting workshop near Cairo, told me he had seen something strange—some kind of fossil—while slicing into a large block of limestone that was to be used in building a kitchen. As a professional paleontologist with a…

Biology Abdullah Gohar

Upside-Down Jellyfish Release Weaponized Goo Packed With Toxic ‘Grenades’

Swimmers in warm coastal regions often exhibit sting-like symptoms despite not coming into direct contact with venomous animals such as jellyfish. Scientists have now pinpointed the cause of these “stinging waters” to a particular jellyfish equipped with its own weaponized mucus. New research published today in Communications Biology describes the “cassiosome,” a stinging cellular structure…

Biology George Dvorsky

Scientists Find Over 300 ‘Huge’ Viruses With Strange Abilities

These large microorganisms don’t just dwarf typical viruses in size—they also seem capable of complex tricks normally only seen in living things.

Biology Ed Cara

NOAA Offers $20,000 Reward for Info on Sickos Who Stabbed, Shot Two Dolphins in Florida

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who can lead them to whoever murdered two dolphins found dead and beached last week, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists discovered a slain dolphin that died of a bullet or sharp object near…

Biology Tom McKay

‘Puzzling’ Virus Found in Brazil Has Genetic Material Not Seen in Anything Else

The DNA-based virus was found in amoebas living in the muddy waters of an artificial lake in the town of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Biology Ed Cara

These Crows Evolved Into a New Species, Boned the Old Species Too Much, Now Back Where They Started

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, a glacier advanced upon the Pacific Northwest, its ice forming a natural barrier that fractured crows into two populations. These populations began to diverge into two separate species, which ornithologists decided were distinguishable by small differences in body measurements and the sounds they made. At least, that’s what they…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Mongooses Stink Less, Have Bigger Balls After Invading Islands

Over the last 150 years, the males of certain invasive mongooses have undergone some serious tweaks to their sexual anatomy. New research suggests that the mongooses’ anal pads—which produce a scent that is apparently very alluring to female mongooses—have become comparatively shrunken, while their testicles have gotten bigger. Island life for small Asian mongooses (Urva…

Biology Jake Buehler

FDA Now Lets Lab Animals Go Up For Adoption

Federal animal testing, while still controversial, is now a little less macabre thanks to a recent policy amendment by the Food and Drug Administration. Instead of euthanizing these poor critters after they’ve been involved in experiments, now the FDA’s opened up adoption and transfer practices so that healthy animals can retire after their stint in the…

Biology Alyse Stanley

One of the Last Mammoths on Earth Was So Mutated, It Lost the Ability to Smell Flowers

The vast majority of woolly mammoths went extinct at the end of the last ice age, but small, isolated populations managed to hold out for a little while longer. New research uncovers the extent to which at least one of these final mammoths suffered due to its many mutations. Diabetes, developmental disorders, male infertility, and…

Biology George Dvorsky

These Clever Parrots Can Understand Probability

Paleontologists Are Skeptical About Baby Dinosaur Cells Supposedly Found in Fossil

Cat Food Foils Scientists

Your Dog’s Ice-Cold Nose May Be a Sensor for Detecting Heat at Distance

Red Pandas Might Actually Be Two Species

Solar Storms Could Confuse Whales and Cause Mass Strandings

This Noodle-Fingered Robot Is a Friend to Jellyfish

Here Are Some Gulls Playing With a Dildo

Bird That Looks Like It Died Yesterday Turns Out to Be 46,000 Years Old

These Birds Learned to Avoid Yucky Food by Watching Videos on the Computer

Researchers See Eagle Torturing Bat by Repeatedly Dropping It in the Ocean

How I Discovered a 40-Million-Year-Old Whale in Kitchen Limestone

Upside-Down Jellyfish Release Weaponized Goo Packed With Toxic ‘Grenades’

Scientists Find Over 300 ‘Huge’ Viruses With Strange Abilities

NOAA Offers $20,000 Reward for Info on Sickos Who Stabbed, Shot Two Dolphins in Florida

‘Puzzling’ Virus Found in Brazil Has Genetic Material Not Seen in Anything Else

These Crows Evolved Into a New Species, Boned the Old Species Too Much, Now Back Where They Started

Mongooses Stink Less, Have Bigger Balls After Invading Islands

FDA Now Lets Lab Animals Go Up For Adoption

One of the Last Mammoths on Earth Was So Mutated, It Lost the Ability to Smell Flowers

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

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