Their name means ‘monster’, and once upon a time, ancient sailors feared that’s exactly what these giant creatures of the deep were. But while basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) might be the second-largest fish in the ocean, these gentle giants are not fearsome predators but vulnerable plankton-eaters – and despite their massive size, there’s still a

Ants don’t tend to get in traffic jams. They might butt heads (or antennae) momentarily as they go about their industrious business, but ants somehow have mastered the art of keeping things moving. They’re geniuses of flow.   Another striking thing about ants is that some of them just sit around doing nothing. This has

A chemical analysis of fossils from 3.4 billion years ago has put them firmly in the running for the title of “world’s oldest evidence of life.” Only discovered in 2011, the microfossils hail from the Strelley Pools formation in the Western Australian desert – an extraordinary find, considering Earth is thought to be around 4.5

Thousands of years ago, on what is now the Greek island of Santorini, a mountain exploded in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. But scientists have had difficulty establishing exactly when the Minoan volcano Thera erupted – until now.   An unusual source may be able to settle the debate from conflicting

If you notice dogs aiming as high as possible when they pee in public, there might be a very good reason for that: they’re trying to trick other dogs into thinking they’re taller than they really are.   We already know that dogs leave a urine marker to label their territory or as a calling

As The Meg, a new sci-fi horror film about a giant shark, fills cinema screens worldwide, it’s worth pausing to appreciate the animal behind the screams. Carcharocles megalodon (or just Megalodon) is one of the most impressive creatures ever to have existed on Earth. Huge, voracious, and beautifully mysterious, megalodons were the largest known sharks

Sometimes, you need a reminder that the world isn’t all bad. Today, the reminder we bring you is this adorable ‘Japan pig’ – a brand new species of pygmy seahorse just discovered in southeastern Japan.   “Japan is recognised as a global hotspot of marine biodiversity, with 53 recorded species of syngnathids, including ten species

Recognising faces is essential for how we interact in complex societies, and is often thought to be an ability that requires the sophistication of the large human brain. But new evidence we published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that insects such as the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the European wasp (Vespula vulgaris) use visual processing

It might not be a happy ending, but in the circumstances, it’s the happiest we could have hoped for. Tahlequah, aka the orca mother J35, has finally surrendered her deceased newborn calf, after carrying her lifeless body for seventeen straight days in an arduous display of animal grief and denial that made headlines around the

Scientists have sequenced the full genome of a tiny fern with leaves the size of gnats that could help in cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide, fixing nitrogen in agriculture, and shooing insects from crops.   Azolla filiculoides is a water fern often found fertilizing rice paddies in Asia, but its ancestry goes much further back. “Fifteen million

A grieving orca was spotted off the coast of Washington state Thursday, carrying her stillborn calf through the Pacific Ocean for the 17th day in a journey that has astonished and devastated much of the world.   Tahlequah, as the mother has come to be called, gave birth on July 25 in what should have

If you’re in Bermuda at the right time of the month, you’re in for a treat. Around 2-5 days after the full moon, and around 55 minutes after sunset, the Bermuda fireworm swims to the ocean surface and flares into brilliance, lighting up with an incredible bioluminescent glow.   The creature lives most of its life in

Thousands of years before cats took up residence in 37 percent of American households, and managed to outnumber dogs by roughly 75 million across the globe, they were hopping continents with farmers, ancient mariners, and even Vikings, scientists have found.   In the first large-scale study of ancient feline DNA, the results reveal how our

Every year, some 1,200 people make a mad dash for the summit of Mount Everest during the climbing season that begins in May – taking on the arduous, often congested route to the world’s highest peak that most will not complete and some will not survive.   Working against them: temperatures far below zero, altitude

Trees are ubiquitous around the globe. Everyone knows that a tree grows up from a seed in the ground. It’s a normal occurrence. But in order to do so, the tree needs to work against gravity – and now researchers have figured out the secret that allows them to do this. Spoiler: It’s bark.  

In 1959, Soviet scientists embarked on an audacious experiment to breed a population of tame foxes, a strain of animals that wouldn’t be aggressive or fearful of people. Scientists painstakingly selected the friendliest foxes to start each new generation, and within 10 cycles they began to see differences from wild foxes – fox pups that

After more than 125 years of mystery, scientists think they have reconfirmed the final resting place of the world’s forgotten ‘eighth wonder’, clearing up much of the uncertainty from previous studies.   On 10 June 1886, Mt Tarawera blew its top in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in New Zealand’s history, sending volcanic debris

For roughly 17 months, she patiently waited. Like many expectant mothers, she looked forward to the day she would get to welcome her baby into the world. On Tuesday morning, it finally happened. J35, a member of an endangered population of southern resident killer whales, gave birth near Victoria, B.C. It was a baby girl.

After decades of looking, researchers have identified a molecule that plays an important role in guiding sperm to find eggs. The discovery, observed in the cellular biology of sea urchins, isn’t just of importance for marine invertebrates – as the findings may reveal new secrets about human fertility that could help us to treat male

Aftershocks are a common feature of big earthquakes, but they usually occur relatively close to the tremor’s epicenter. For the first time, researchers have found evidence of earthquakes triggering seismic events on the other side of the globe, suggesting a ripple effect that could potentially be used to forecast catastrophes in the future.   Researchers

In a rare and fortuitous moment, scientists have caught Madagascar’s red-fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) gnawing on toxic millipedes and rubbing them all over their genitals and anuses.    The first-of-its-kind discovery was made in 2016 by Louise Peckre, an expert in primatology at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Germany, when she was on

Before the massive Hope Diamond came to rest in a Smithsonian exhibit, before the gem passed among wealthy owners and thieves and French royals, before it acquired its cursed reputation, before it was mined in India, the diamond was born at hellish depths beneath Earth’s crust.   Fittingly, the birth of a blue diamond like

Forget language, or smarts, or even our flair for art. Our species represents the last of its kind simply because we’ve pushed into environments others never dared to tread. Two archaeologists suggest the global domination of a single species of hominin isn’t incidental – Homo sapien’s ability to flourish in extreme conditions was a key

Australia has nearly five million dogs, with nearly 40 percent of Australian households owning one. But it seems that 40 percent of Australian dogs are not walked enough and that a similar percentage of dogs are overweight or obese. With colleagues at the University of Sydney, we are interested in collecting more recent data on

The world’s largest king penguin colony has dramatically collapsed, and as yet scientists just don’t know why. From 2 million members in the 1980s, including 500,000 breeding pairs, the population on the sub-Antarctic Île aux Cochons has shrunk to just 60,000 breeding pairs.   Using recent high-resolution satellite data from 2005 onwards, and helicopter and

Skin is your largest organ. There are about 2 square metres (22 square feet) of it enveloping you right now, and it’s not the shape we thought it was. In fact, scientists have just discovered an entirely new geometric shape previously unknown to science or mathematics, and it looks like it’s been hiding in your

A little bit of interspecies nookie has resulted in an unusual child that now lives in the waters off the Hawaiian island of Kauai. According to a new genetic analysis, his dad was a rough-toothed dolphin and his mum was a melon-headed whale – the first ever known hybrid of its kind.   The cetacean

Rotten eggs, animal puke, or a bloated dead whale? Smells can be truly awful, but somehow that doesn’t slow us down when we explore the big question – which stench is, objectively, the most disgusting.   The science behind what actually makes a smell truly horrific is actually quite complicated. According to a study in

Caribbean lizards that survived the tough 2017 hurricane season have larger toe pads, on both front and back limbs, report researchers. The work is first to demonstrate the effects of hurricane-induced natural selection.   The hyperactive 2017 season was one of the worst that the Atlantic Ocean region ever experienced. Hurricane Harvey hit in mid-August

One of the biggest ingredients in the creation of a fossil is time. Lots and lots and lots of time – thousands to millions of years. So studying the process in action? That’s a little tricky.   But now a team of researchers has figured out a way – by compressing that incredibly lengthy process

Shark Week, the Discovery Channel’s annual bonanza of shark documentaries, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week. It’s the longest-running series on cable, and that longevity has given it a prime role in pop culture and public understanding of shark science.   But its legacy is a mixed bag. As a shark conservation biologist, I

Samples of permafrost sediment frozen for the past 40,000 years were recently thawed to reveal living nematodes. Within weeks the roundworms began to move and eat, setting a record for the time an animal can survive cryogenic preservation.   Aside from revealing new limits of endurance, it just might prove useful when it comes to

Yellowstone National Park’s supervolcano could be the result of rubbing tectonic plates after all, a new study suggest – challenging the favoured explanation which pins it on heat billowing up from deep beneath the crust.   Virginia Tech geoscientist Ying Zhou has identified anomalies in the crust that suggest sliding layers of rock are responsible

It turns out Lassie might not be such an outlier: dogs with strong bonds to their owners will hurry to their aid if they know a way to help, a new study suggests. In an experiment run with a variety of breeds, around half the dogs involved tried to push through a door to get

At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows, a team of professors has finally cracked The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. You may not have realized that The Lorax needed cracking, but that’s why you’re not an anthropologist at Dartmouth College.   In a paper released Monday in the prestigious journal Nature Ecology &

“Just how old do you think my dog is in dog years?” is a question I hear on a regular basis. People love to anthropomorphize pets, attributing human characteristics to them. And most of us want to extend our animal friends’ healthy lives for as long as possible.   It may seem like sort of

The soaring temperatures in Europe and North America have seen a rise in reports of dogs being rescued from hot cars. Police across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Canada have all saved dogs from certain death.   But in the US, a Great Dane in Juneau, Alaska, a Pitbull Boxer mix in Trussvile,

What has six legs, two antennae, four furry appendages sprouting from its backside – and a big chunk of the Internet freaked out? The world’s most viral and terrifying moth. A man in Indonesia posted a picture and video of the insect on Facebook in October last year, drawing more than 36,000 comments, many from

Mapping the human brain in detail could help to unlock some of its mysteries, but our own brains are such amazingly intricate organs that we’re going to be waiting a while for that to happen. Still, scientists just took an important step towards that goal.   A team has just created a high-definition, 3D picture of

Ah, nature. So majestic. So serene. So … disturbing. It turns out that there’s a lot of grotesquery in the animal kingdom, and it goes far beyond snacking on the occasional dead young.   Many more animals than you would think have been spotted trying to get their rocks off with the dead. In some

You’ve seen it, you’ve heard it, but have you ever smelled it? As bizarre as it sounds, lightning has a distinct odor. But unlike its blinding flash or deafening roar, the scent of a lightning bolt is much more subtle. In fact, you’ve probably experienced it before.   Whenever lightning strikes, it heats the air

Back in 2008, researchers found a weird set of dinosaur fossils in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. Most ankylosaurid dinosaurs found in the area have smooth bony armour on their skull. This one was spiky.   After 10 years of hard work the research has just been published, confirming this weird spike-armoured

After years of debate, the current geological epoch has finally been cut into three sections. While some geologists clearly think it’s a justified change, others feel the move was premature and deserved further discussion.   The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) recently ratified the division of the Holocene into the Meghalayan, Northgrippian, and Greenlandian

Rangers have temporarily closed off parts of Grand Teton National Park after guides noticed growing fissures in the area just over a week ago. Since Grand Teton is connected to Yellowstone, and Yellowstone is well known for sitting on top of what could well be a giant volcanic time bomb, the news has rung some

That diamond on your wedding ring isn’t as rare as you might think. Using sound waves, scientists uncovered a cache of diamonds distributed deep below the Earth’s surface, and it amounts to over a quadrillion tonnes of the precious mineral. (Yes, you read that right.)   That’s according to a new study published by a

A jaguar at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans slipped out of its enclosure and went on a territorial killing rampage sometime overnight, attacking four alpacas, an emu and a fox trapped in their own habitats before zoo officials managed to sedate it.   The big cat was first reported missing at 7:20 am, before

Eight critically endangered black rhinoceroses died after being moved from parks near Kenya’s capital to a sanctuary in a national park in the country’s southeast, the government said Friday.   Preliminary investigations suggest the rhinos suffered from salt poisoning as they adapted to water with higher saline levels than they were accustomed to, according to

Quick question – if you found a strange-looking fossil on your property, would you a) call the press, b) call the experts, or c) do neither because, well, who needs that kind of attention?   For those who went with c, you have a kindred spirit in a farmer who stumbled on a giant four-tusked