The First Look Inside a Whale Never Seen Alive
A routine beach call in New Zealand turned into the first real look inside one of the ocean's most elusive animals, and the anatomy inside was stranger than anyone expected.
Nature
450 Million Years Ago, Your Brain Already Had a Blueprint
A jawless fish unchanged for 360 million years just handed researchers a working map of the very first vertebrate brain, older and stranger than expected.
The Squirrel Monkey Has Entered the Chat on Human Childbirth
The obstetrical dilemma assumed our species faced the tightest squeeze in the primate order. Then researchers re-measured a much smaller mammal correctly, and the ranking changed.
A Sea Worm Built Metal Jaws Without Any Metal
Half a billion years before we figured out smelting, a marine worm was already building metal-grade jaws from protein. What else has nature quietly engineered that we haven't noticed yet?
The Great White Has a Thermostat Problem
Great white sharks run hot by design. Now that the ocean is heating up, their greatest physiological advantage may be turning against them.
A Plant With No Leaves, No Chlorophyll, and Apparently No Shame
It can't photosynthesize. It can't survive on its own. So this plant went underground, tapped into a host, and started rewriting its own DNA with borrowed code.
Sleeper Sharks From Thousands of Miles Away Feast on a Sunken Cow
Scientists dropped a cow a mile underwater to study deep-sea scavengers. Sharks that belong 4,000 miles north showed up instead. And they weren't alone.
These Catfish Have Been Catching Cancer From Each Other
Cancer has been passing between catfish in Lake Memphremagog. It is only the fourth transmissible cancer ever found in any animal, and the first in fish.
Bull Sharks in Fiji Keep Finding the Same Mates. Every Year. For a Decade.
The DNA said the same two sharks had pups together years apart. Bull sharks were supposed to be solitary. What else have we gotten wrong?
A Shark With No Voice Box Is Making Sounds at 155 Decibels
Scientists assumed sharks were silent. Then a PhD student in a New Zealand lab heard something that sounded like electric sparks. The sharks were the ones making it.
Nine Sharks. One Week. All the Weird.
From an 80-foot prehistoric giant to a bull shark following your stormwater runoff, YGBFKM has been covering sharks all year. Shark Week is a good excuse to catch up.
A Spider Wearing a Smiley Face Just Turned Up in the Himalayas
Two spiders, two continents, one inexplicable red grin, and scientists found this one while they were looking for ants. What else is up there?
Orcas Are Exploding Sunfish
Orcas in the Gulf of California are blowing up sunfish after killing them. Scientists suspect it is either a feeding technique for juveniles or a really good time.
A Nurse Shark Off Costa Rica Showed Up Looking Like a Traffic Cone
A nurse shark with glowing orange skin and white eyes turns up off Costa Rica, and somehow, being impossible to camouflage didn't stop it from thriving.
The Whale That's Been Calling the Wrong Number for Decades
Other whales can hear it. Scientists confirmed that decades ago. So why has no whale ever answered? The mystery of 52 Blue goes deeper than you'd expect.
This Fly Lands on a Deer, Rips Off Its Own Wings, and Dials Down Its Vision
A blood-feeding fly sheds its wings on landing, then halves its own visual output, and researchers are asking whether evolution can't, or just won't, finish the job.
Daddy Longlegs Are Eating Frogs Whole
A daddy longlegs with no venom and no web just pinned down a live frog bigger than itself. Scientists say this might be happening all over South American tropical forests.
Bees in Peru Granted Legal Standing. Their Lawyer Is a Human.
They've been pollinating the Amazon for 96 million years. What changed? Two Peruvian municipalities just gave them legal standing to fight back.