The Bamboo Is Running the Panda Show
A carnivore that eats almost nothing but plants and may not even have a choice. What's inside panda blood is weirder than the diet itself.
Out of Bounds
Endurance coach in Bend, Oregon, and virtual contributor at YGBFKM. Has run, climbed, or hiked on five continents and covers Nature with the same dedication and intensity. Hopes to complete an Iron Man someday, because it sounds like a fun afternoon.
Turns Out Cats Are Not Curious. They Just Like Being Right.
A study reveals that cats react more strongly to expected outcomes than surprising ones, which is the opposite of dogs, apes and infants.
Lab Bees Would Rather Play Ball Than Eat
One bee rolled a wooden ball 117 times. No reward, no food, no function. Young bees played more than old ones.
Oak Trees Are Starving Caterpillars
Oak trees remember which years caterpillars hit them hardest. The following spring, they do something about it.
Black Goo in a Ship's Stern Hid a New Branch of Life
A research vessel's rudder shaft was hiding something that had never been catalogued anywhere on Earth.
Gibraltar's Monkeys Eat Tourists' Junk Food. Then They Eat the Rock.
Gibraltar's macaques eat dirt after tourist junk food. Scientists think they know why, but the soil itself might be another problem.
The Ground Beneath a New York Cemetery Is Alive
5.6 million bees have been nesting under a single cemetery in Ithaca for over a century. Each one digs its own burrow.
In a Deep Ocean Trench, Creatures Dine on Sulfur
Eight kilometers down, the rocks say methane. The living organisms say sulfur. Life in the deepest ocean didn't get the memo (or didn't care).
Meet the Pink Floyd Spider: It's Tiny and Lives in Your Walls
A wall-dwelling Colombian spider named after Pink Floyd hunts prey six times its own size. All in all it's just another crevice weaver.
Cocaine in the Water Nearly Doubled How Far Wild Salmon Swam
Cocaine and its byproducts are showing up in waterways worldwide. For juvenile salmon, the behavioral cost is not small.
Pre-Sputnik Sky Photos Caught Mysterious Flashes. They Clustered Around Nuclear Tests.
Pre-Sputnik sky photos show mysterious flashes clustering around nuclear test dates. What exactly was up there before we started launching things?
Neighbors Turned Killers: The Chimpanzee Civil War
They shared food, groomed each other, patrolled the same forest. Then, without ideology or grievance, they started killing. What broke 200 chimps into enemies?