175 Items Tagged

Scientists at Work

Scientists estimate there are some 4,000 bees native to the United States alone—but many of them are struggling to survive in our warming, pesticide-ridden world.

To Save America's Native Bees, the Oregon Bee Project Is Mapping Every Single One

The project aims to make a complete 'bee atlas,' detailing every single local pollinator.

Kate Raphael September 22, 2023

Podcast: The Fear Lab

Ever wondered why our brains crave a good scare?

The Podcast Team September 21, 2023

Researchers in an inflatable boat prepare to tag a bull shark they have flipped on its back, inducing tonic immobility. Science cannot yet explain why many species seem to go into a trance in this position.

To Track Bull Sharks, First Hit Their Snooze Button

For these researchers in Southern Africa, tagging the apex predators starts with putting them in trancelike tonic immobility.

Ryan Truscott September 20, 2023

The pekapeka-tou-poto, found only in New Zealand, is also known as the lesser short-tailed bat.

The Race to Save the Pekapeka-Tou-Poto, New Zealand's Unique Bat

For scientists, monitoring the feisty, endangered burrowing bat includes moments of "actual madness."

Monica Evans September 14, 2023

Of the 151 species they studied, all of them, including this tree frog, <em>Dendropsophus rhodopeplus</em> (shown under blue light), displayed some level of fluorescence.

Biologists Threw a Fluorescent Frog Rave in the Amazon, for Science

Turns out many of the frogs glow, maybe to communicate.

Roxanne Hoorn August 22, 2023

Meet the Algae and Other Microbes in Your Neighborhood

All you need is a jar of local water and a microscope—you may even find new species. Welcome to Algae Obscura.

Julia Van Etten August 15, 2023

Daniel Hogan and Eli Schwat tow a sled of gear out to the Kettle Ponds study site this March.

The Curious Case of the Colorado River’s Missing Water

Researchers are trying to unravel the mystery of snow that falls but never shows up in the river.

Bella Biondini August 7, 2023

A reconstruction of <em>P. colossus</em> shows it in its coastal habitat. The head is an educated guess because a skull has not been found yet.

Paleontologists in Peru Discover What Might Be the 'Chonkiest Whale Ever'

And maybe the heaviest animal the world has ever seen.

Roxanne Hoorn August 2, 2023

Scientists explore the lava tube they have dubbed the "Red Cave" for its rusty hues.

Taking the First Steps Into a Newly Formed Volcanic Underworld

More than a year after a devastating eruption in the Canary Islands, a team is exploring a braided network of still-hot lava tubes.

Maya Wei-Haas July 19, 2023

One of this cat’s distinctive sabers was broken off before it died.

This Stunning Sabertooth Cat Skull Belonged to a Big Male That Died Young

Found in southwestern Iowa, the well-preserved fossil is about 13,500 years old.

Matthew Hill July 17, 2023

Katherine Moore (left) shows vessels for storing and serving food from Pachacámac at the exhibit.

How to Trace Food History With Ancient Leftovers

The Penn Museum's new exhibit showcases the art of edible archaeology.

Sam O'Brien June 30, 2023

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir dines on fresh mustard greens that she harvested aboard the ISS in 2019.

space exploration

Inside NASA's Contest to Develop the Space Food of the Future

The race to provide astronauts with fresh bread and 3-D printed steaks can also help food scarcity on Earth.

Sarah Miller June 26, 2023

By 1994, the seaweed had died back on Mearns Rock and mussels were elbowing in.

Alaskans Have Photographed This Boulder for 33 Years

In 1990, a scientist began visually documenting Prince William Sound’s recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. When funding ran out, volunteers took over.

J. Besl June 12, 2023

On the nesting colony platform, a common tern watches over its chicks beside tufts of artificial grass that mimic the birds' traditional nesting habitat.

Maryland's Rare Seabirds Get a Life Raft and Babysitters

Scientists don bike helmets and dodge bird poop to care for a colony of endangered common terns.

Ashley Stimpson June 6, 2023

On Tuckernuck Island, the American giant millipede is in danger of losing its head. Scientists don't know what is responsible for the unprecedented number of decapitations.

The Mystery of the Headless Millipedes

Every summer, hundreds of millipedes are murdered on one small Massachusetts island.

William von Herff May 26, 2023

This New Species Is a Fish out of Water by Choice

The Juan Deriba killifish, found in a tiny area of Bolivia, jumps out of water to evade threats.

James Hall May 23, 2023

The Bar Hill Comb was part of a collection of more than 280,000 artifacts recovered in Cambridgeshire, England, between 2016 and 2018.

In England, Bar Hill's 'Skull Comb' Is an Iron Age Mystery

The unusual artifact hints at how ancient communities may have treated their dead.

Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing May 17, 2023

At the high-tech military food center colloquially known as Natick Lab, R&D achievements include a vacuum microwave-dried cheeseburger (center top) and other shelf-stable meals.

How to Feed an Army

Go behind the scenes at the Massachusetts military lab engineering the fuel of the future.

Diana Hubbell May 12, 2023