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Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People's Brains
Parasitic worms leave millions of victims paralyzed, epileptic, or worse. So why isn’t anyone mobilizing to eradicate them? 05.15.2012
The Hagfish's Special Trick for Warding Off Predators: Thick, Sticky Mucus
A shark can't eat you if it's gagging on slime. 05.10.2012
Does Rain Come From Life in the Clouds?
Scientists are making their first forays into the mysterious world of biology miles up in the air. Their startling conclusion: That ecosystem in the sky might influence tomorrow's weather and next year's harvest. 04.20.2012
6 Creepy-Crawlies We Hate But Couldn't Do Without
You might think the world would be better off without the bacteria that cause acne and strep throat. You'd be wrong. 04.18.2012
Plants Repel Bacteria's Assaults by Spying on Their Chatter
Researchers discover an impressive ability never seen in plants before. 04.17.2012
Superfreak of Evolution: The Lizard With a Humanlike Placenta
It's normal for us but very rare for a reptile. 04.09.2012
7 Animals That Harnessed Nanotechnology Long Before Humans
The animal kingdom boasts many an impressive form, from arching giraffe necks to spoon-shaped bird beaks to gigantic beetle claws. But evolution has worked on much smaller scales too, producing nanostructures that help animals climb, slither, camouflage, flirt, and thrive. 04.03.2012
How Mosquitoes Survive in a Downpour
Sometimes, being tiny is a big advantage. 03.14.2012
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
02.21.2012
The Grinches That Stole Valentine's Day: Creatures That Say No to Sex
From "lesbian lizards" to sea stars, some animals can survive for quite a while without mating, thank you very much. 02.14.2012
The Spider Assassin That Acts Like Prey and Cloaks Itself With Wind
The assassin bug has an impressive array of techniques for hunting spiders that can just as easily eat assassin bugs. 02.06.2012
The Big Debate Over the Oldest Life on Earth
One researcher says he has the oldest fossils ever found; another says that's just mangled, pressure-cooked rock. 12.07.2011
The Bug With Built-in Sidekicks
Meet the animal kingdom’s version of a Russian nesting doll. 11.21.2011
The Scatological Hitchhiker Snail
When you can't abide to fly coach and can't afford to fly first class, try flying in the guts of a bird. 10.18.2011
World's Deepest Known Animal: Worm That Lives Under Almost a Mile of Rock
Researchers dubbed it "Halicephalobus mephisto," from the Greek for “he who loves not the light.” 10.12.2011
Military Cameras & Olive Oil Help Solve Longstanding Mystery: How Hummingbirds Fly
The secret lies right where you wouldn't expect it: in the bird's upstroke. 09.09.2011
It's Complicated: The Lives of Dolphins & Scientists
In the escalating war over dolphin rights, two pioneers in the study of cetacean consciousness have sacrificed their decades-old friendship for their beliefs. 09.07.2011
Helped by Hops, Discourse by Dance, and Reign by Royalactin
Bees have amazingly complicated social structures and behaviors, and are critical for a lot of agriculture. Hopefully not all of their colonies will collapse... 08.10.2011
Where’d That Beetle Find a Screwdriver? 6 Machines Created by Evolution
Simple machines hidden are where you least expect them. Take a closer look. 08.05.2011
A Bug That Jumps Far But Stays Rooted
07.31.2011
Are Cancers Actually New Species of Life? Probably Not—and It Doesn't Matter
Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. 07.29.2011
3 Bugs That Can Teach Us a Lot About Solar Power
The modern solar panel is woefully inefficient, converting 24 percent of sunlight's energy into electricity, at best. Mother nature can do much better, owing to 3 billion years of hard-won evolution. 07.26.2011
Are Toxins in Seafood Causing ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's?
What started as the discovery of an unknown disease in Guam has spread to a line of ominous findings about some of our most debilitating conditions and potential toxins lurking in bodies of water around the world. 07.22.2011
5 Questions for the Heart Engineer
John Dabiri has found a surprising connection between the human heart and jellyfish swimming, and it could have profound health consequences. 07.03.2011
Why Bacteria, But Not Humans, Can Live on Caffeine
It's all in the rings. 06.14.2011
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Spiders
How spider venom can treat erectile dysfunction, dreadlocks can cure arachnophobia, and spider silk can be used as muscles for robots. 05.13.2011
8 Amazing Animal Migrations
Some creatures just aren't happy spending all year in one house. Here are some of the longest and most impressive yearly voyages by land, air, and sea. 05.05.2011
Why Did Earth Have a Poison-Filled "Boring Billion" Years?
Andrew Kroll argues that during this apparently stagnant time, monumental changes were afoot, setting the stage for the geyser of evolutionary change that followed, and the complex world we see today. 02.26.2011
The Funky Fungi Freak Show
Come see the luminous looks of Gorgeous Glo. Marvel at the magnificent abilities of the Hat-Thrower. Meet the species that stinks to survive—but don't get too close. 02.24.2011
The Secret Social Lives of Plants
Some plants communicate through chemicals released by their tissues, while other species use soil bacteria to find out what's going on their neighborhoods. 01.26.2011
#92: Sharks Use Math to Hunt
12.16.2010
#77: Wired Bees Do Field Research
12.16.2010
#65: Animals Survive Without Oxygen
12.16.2010
#44: Prehistoric Moby-Dick
12.16.2010
The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010
Sliced: The Fish That Fishes
The anglerfish is equally nightmarish, mysterious, and interesting. 09.28.2010
The Lizard That Walks on Air on Water
How the Central American "Jesus lizard" makes its awe-inspiring aquatic dash. 08.12.2010
Guantanamo Bay, Site of Important Ecological Research
Within the barbed wire and "Keep Out" signs that ring the Guantanamo Bay naval base, wildlife is thriving. So is scientific work. 08.06.2010
Science Is Best When Done Underwater—by Robots
The bots behind the most daring feats and dazzling discoveries of deep-sea exploration. 06.09.2010
The Alluring and Alien Sights of a Bee in Ultra Close-up
See the honeybee's hairy eyeball, barbed stinger, and detachable wings at astounding magnifications. 05.18.2010
How Animals Suck: 9 Creatures That Slurp Creatively
Moths that steal tears while their victim sleeps, bats with tongues that start near their hearts, and more animals with weird techniques for eating and drinking. 03.04.2010
The Clever Tricks That Let Caterpillars Reach Butterflyhood
These wingless larvae outwit predators through ingenious disguises, alarming appendages, and choreographed chaos. 02.09.2010
8 Marine Creatures that Light Up the Sea
How bioluminescence makes the ocean go round. 02.01.2010
#41: The Freaky Fish With the See-through Head
The barreleye always looks up, through its own head, to find food. 01.26.2010
Impostors! Ten Species That Survive by Imitation
Disguises, fake sex, and eau de rotting flesh: These plants and animals use the weirdest ruses to get by. 01.26.2010
Field Notes: Meddling With Mosquito Romance in the Name of Public Healt
The duets sung by male and female mosquitoes are a critical part of their mating ritual. If researchers can master mosquito music, they may be able to abort a whole generation of disease-carriers. 01.20.2010
The Mating Game's Biggest Cheaters
Backstabbing is rife in the animal kingdom—especially among hermaphroditic flatworms, which literally stab each other with their penises during mating to determine who will carry the babies. 01.11.2010
Lichens: Fungi That Have Discovered Agriculture
The often misunderstood symbiote can poison wolves, break down rocks, and live for thousands of years. 01.06.2010
Frankenhuman! 9 Lab Animals That Add Up to 1 Person
Taken (or stitched) together, the animals used in medical research form a kind of laboratory doppelganger for humans—similar biology, fewer moral qualms. 01.05.2010
#65: Hot Climate Produced Giant, Croc-Eating Snake
The 40-foot monster is helping scientists figure out what happened in our hotter past—and perhaps what awaits us in the future. 12.27.2009
#71: First Ground Animals Borrowed Shells
In the harsh dry air, the hermit crab-like animals needed shields to keep their gills warm. 12.24.2009
#76: Leaping Flying Lizards
Pterosaurs could fly 40 up to miles an hour but were unable to launch themselves like modern birds. So how did these prehistoric giants get off the ground? 12.22.2009
#77: Did an Early Pummeling of Asteroids Lead to Life on Earth?
Early organisms apparently survived the Late Heavy Bombardment—which may have made our planet a much comfier place to live. 12.22.2009
#90: Fossil Bonanza for an Animal That Doesn't Fossilize: The Octopus
“The preservation of these soft-bodied creatures is the result of a chain of lucky chances.” Paleontologists hit the luckiest stash of all in Lebanon. 12.18.2009
What Is This? Abstract Expressionism?
Hint: These plates cover a creature that's flat and round—hence its name. 12.08.2009
8 Lessons Medicine Is Learning From Mother Nature
Snail slime, worm glue, and squid beaks are inspiring a new generation of biomimetic medical devices. 12.02.2009
What Is This... A Hi-Tech Pin Cushion?
Hint: There are a lot fewer of them now than there were a few years ago. 11.18.2009
Treating Disease With Nature’s Deadliest Toxins
Drug companies and scientists are turning nature’s weapons into life-saving treatments. 10.22.2009
Humans vs Animals: Our Fiercest Battles With Invasive Species
From Burmese pythons to Galapagos goats, these animals are threatening a hostile takeover—unless we can stop them. 09.24.2009
Earth's Own Underwater Aliens
Marine biologist Edie Widder's underwater spy camera finally gives humans a chance to see the freaky world of deep-ocean bioluminescent animals. 08.27.2009
Flash, Deception & Suicide: 10 Remarkable Tricks of Animal Mating
From strutting their stuff to committing suicide, some animals will stop at nothing to make sure they get a crack at reproducing. 07.23.2009
Why Ghost Hunters Is the Best Science Show on TV
No matter how silly and misguided, Ghost Hunters captures an element of science that Numb3rs, House, and even Mythbusters miss. 07.22.2009
Cool Killers: The Beauty of Deadly Pathogens
From swine flu to Ebola, you’ve never seen infectious agents quite like these. 06.11.2009
What Is This? A Piece of Rainbow Rock?
Hint: To forensic technicians it's a valuable timer; to medical doctors it's a defense against infection. 04.25.2009
Cannibalism: The Animal Kingdom's Dirty Little Secret
Throughout the animal kingdom, species sometimes get hungry for their own. 04.01.2009
Visual Science: A Close Look at the Original Information Superhighway
A detailed microscope image shows the complicated structure of a fish's nervous system. 03.05.2009
Visual Science: A Glow Below
Fluorescent coral captured on film 02.28.2009
Darwin's Dystopias: Ghastly Visions Inspired by Evolution
A new collection of art shows how one scientist shocked the world. 02.12.2009
Six Sites That Are the Galapagos For Modern Darwins
Researchers see amazing twists of evolution at the biological hot spots. 02.10.2009
What is This? A Windshield's Worst Nightmare Come True?
It may look like a worthless rock, but it can be encrusted with diamonds or used to find black gold. 02.05.2009
Think Animals Don't Think Like Us? Think Again
One extraordinary parrot helped shatter our preconceptions about animal intelligence. 01.20.2009
What is This? The Innards of a Daisy?
It's not a flower, but it does get its nice looks from photosynthesis. 12.23.2008
#33: The First Known Case of Virus-Attacks-Virus
Sputnik virus seems to have influenced evolution of the Mamavirus. 12.16.2008
#53: Bizarre Aquatic Creatures Are Secretly "Lesbian Necrophiliacs"
Asexual bdelloids aren't really asexual after all. 12.12.2008
#71: Slime Molds Show Surprising Degree of Intelligence
A creature with no brain can learn from and even anticipate events. 12.09.2008
#79: The Ancient Rat as Big as a Bull
This giant rodent weighed as much as a compact car. 12.09.2008
#88: Bacteria Can Control the Weather
The tiny organisms may play a big role in causing precipitation. 12.07.2008
#90: The Platypus Genome Is a Mash-Up of Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals
One animal, three completely different ancestors. 12.07.2008
#92: A 380-Million-Year-Old Fish Gives Birth
Paleontologists unearth a prehistoric pregnant skeleton. 12.05.2008
#98: You're More Like a Sponge Than a Comb Jelly
A gelatinous zooplankton can now trace its roots back to the world's first life. 12.04.2008
#100: This Animal Has the Strongest Bite on Earth
A bite from the biggest great white sharks leaves nearly every other species—both alive and extinct—in the dust. 12.04.2008
The Ocean's Last Remaining Secrets
Marine biologists in the world's only undersea lab find wonder hidden in the depths. 10.31.2008
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Blood-Suckers
From vampire bats to parasitic catfish, a new book spells out the secret lives of plasma-loving beasts. 10.29.2008
The Inner Life of Fish Revealed… by X-Rays
These stunning images offer a look inside the world's largest collection of fish. 09.24.2008
Wind Turbine That Imitates Flippers Could Increase Efficiency
The bumps on a humpback's flipper prevent the beast from stalling as it turns. 08.15.2008
Are Efforts to Save the Panda a Giant Waste of Money?
Sure, they're magnificent beasts, but they may be sucking eco-dollars from other, more critical species. 08.12.2008
10 Ways Genetically Engineered Microbes Could Help Humanity
Fighting cancer, producing renewable fuels, and making your clothing glow in the dark. 08.06.2008
Could Pandas Be an Evolutionary Mistake—or Proof of an Intelligent Designer?
They don’t seem to care for sex or proper nutrition, raising questions about whether the fittest have survived. 08.05.2008
Zombie Animals and the Parasites that Control Them
Parasitic wasps, worms, and other creepy-crawlies that take over the minds of their hosts. 08.04.2008
3 Robots That Move Just Like Animals
A wall-crawling gecko, a paperclip-size fly, and an 8-tentacled jellyfish. 07.04.2008
The World According to Fungi
From slimy to friendly, these invaders live in symbiosis with plants—and us. 06.18.2008
Do You See What Shrimp See?
The mantis shrimp can pick up on ultraviolet, infrared—and circular polarization. 06.13.2008
Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo
"When a Grayia strikes at her, she lets it bite—finally proving to her horrified guide that it isn’t poisonous." 05.07.2008
Each Grain of Sand a Tiny Work of Art
Microscopic photos of sand show that it's a lot more than just little tan rocks. 05.01.2008
Strange Molelike Animal Melts Ice Tunnels With Its Head
The hotheaded naked ice borer may have feasted on a polar explorer. 04.01.2008
One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird
An excerpt from The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw 03.07.2008
It’s Not Easy Being Seen
No need to dissect this see-through frog to learn how it works 02.05.2008
The Cruelty-Free Dissection
Hi-res X-rays can peer inside meteorites, cavemen, and cell phones. 02.05.2008
86. World’s First Trees Unearthed
01.15.2008
85. Semi-Identical Twins Discovered
01.15.2008
97. Hot-Tailed Squirrels vs. Rattlesnakes
01.15.2008
92. First Fossil Of A Leaf Insect Found
01.15.2008
81. Longest Mammal Migration Tracked
01.15.2008
77. The Biggest Squid Ever Captured
01.14.2008
39. Plants Using Quantum Computers
12.28.2007
Animals as Architects
The first structure visible from space was made by wombats. 12.28.2007
Beetle of Many Colors
A golden beetle can turn itself brick red in under two minutes. 12.14.2007
Stupid Science Word of the Month: Shmoo
Shmoos are essential: without them, we would have neither bread nor beer. 11.09.2007
Attack of the Giant (Extinct) Insects!
They just don't make two-foot dragonflies like they used to. Here's why. 11.02.2007
Halloween Science: Bacteria of the Living Dead
Chop up their DNA and the buggers still keep comin' back to life. 10.31.2007
Birds Navigate Using Magnetic Compass-Vision
Combined with a GPS beak, it leads them on marathon migrations. 10.30.2007
Amazing Tiny Photos
The best microphotography of the year brings the very small world into very sharp focus. 10.05.2007
The Last Unexplored Place on Earth
Scientists race to discover the secret world buried miles beneath Antarctica. 09.28.2007
Hearing the Footsteps of Extinct Animals
Researchers infer how animals moved by studying inner-ear gyroscopes. 09.20.2007
Eating Spiders Can Fix a Bird Brain
Blue tits raise smart, brave chicks by feeding them arachnids. 09.19.2007
Teflon-ized Frog Chemical Could Save You from Disease
The nonstick pan coating cooks up a mean antibiotic. 09.14.2007
Are Jellyfish Taking Over the World?
The brainless blobs are booming. All scientists know is it isn't good. 09.13.2007
Do Jellyfish Rule the World?
The brainless blobs are booming. All scientists know is it isn’t good. 09.13.2007
4 Robots That Are Saving the World
Smart machines help fix humanity's ecological screwups. 09.07.2007
Sage Grouse Bot
09.06.2007
Stupid Science Word of the Month
Montypythonoides riversleighensis, n., an extinct Australian snake 09.04.2007
Frigid Antarctic Seas Boil Over with Biodiversity
Researchers find 750 new species, including the carnivorous moonsnail. 08.09.2007
Earth Speaks in an Inaudible Voice
You can’t hear it, but our planet’s ultradeep hum could save your life. 08.02.2007
Stupid Science Word of the Month
Phthiria relativitae, n. Pronunciation: \theory o’relativity\ 07.26.2007
Jumbo Squid Invade California Coast
Human-caused environmental changes are a boon for the "red devil." 07.26.2007
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Mosquitoes
They use the signature buzz as a mating call. 07.23.2007
Aliens Among Us
Do we share Earth with alternative life forms? 06.27.2007
Against All Odds, Sex Has Returned
A mite reevolves sex after hundreds of millions of years without it. 06.19.2007
Your Body Is a Planet
90% of the cells within us are not ours but microbes'. 06.19.2007
Is Dirt the New Prozac?
Injections of soil bacteria produce serotonin—and happiness—in mice. 06.14.2007
Sweeping The Ocean Floor
Strange sea creatures caught on film for the first time 06.13.2007
Message in a Bacterium
Researchers use DNA as a post-human time capsule. 06.04.2007
Air Force Ponders Bat-Planes
Nimble wings may inspire aircraft of the future. 05.15.2007
Ocean's Glowing
Most animals in the deep ocean have some kind of luminescence for communication or defense. 05.09.2007
How to Pinpoint a Pinniped
It's easy—stick a big radio transmitter on their heads. 05.04.2007
Darwin’s Lost World
Evolution is alive and swimming in Borneo. 04.26.2007
Review: Mysteries of the Deep
Amazing photos of animals living in the darkest, deepest ocean 04.24.2007
Review: Earth Puts on Its Sunday Best
Discovery Channel's Planet Earth series draws toward a close. 04.18.2007
Unstoppable Babies
Newborn dolphins and killer whales don't sleep. At all. 04.10.2007
Caught in the Hot Zone
Ebola drives gorillas toward extinction. 04.09.2007
Raw Data: Beacon Bird of Climate Change
Penguin poop reveals secrets of the Antarctic climate. 04.04.2007
Bondo Mystery Ape
Proves to be a chimpanzee with unusual habits. 03.15.2007
Natural Selections: Prairie Dogs of Death
Jungle viruses hitch a ride into the U.S. via exotic pets. 03.09.2007
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Bees
Undertaker bees, the queens who were called kings, how honey helps wounds... 03.08.2007
Speaking Songbird
A human speech gene is found in other sonically skilled animals: songbirds, hummingbirds, bats, and dolphins. 03.07.2007
Galapagos Reconsidered
A Harvard physicist finds that the "Enchanted Islands" are not always pretty. 02.24.2007
E.T.'s Arctic Cousins?
An unusual discovery in remote Canada may help us humans find the nearest extraterrestrial life. 02.23.2007
Ocean's Glowing
Most animals in the deep ocean have some kind of luminescence for communication or defense. 02.19.2007
Unstoppable Babies
Newborn dolphins and killer whales don't sleep. At all. 02.19.2007
Sage Grouse Bot
02.02.2007
Natural Selections: Brazilian Rendezvous
Primatologists devise ways for critically threatened monkeys to meet and mate. 11.01.2006
Extinction—It's What's for Dinner
A tip-off from a taxi driver reveals how bush meat gets to Brooklyn. 10.20.2006
World's Smallest GPS System
Using pig hairs as stilts may give ants impressively long strides, but it throws off their step-counting navigational technique. 10.16.2006
Still Extinct?
Experts deny ivory-billed woodpecker find. 04.03.2006
Unintelligent Design
A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth 03.15.2006
Antsy in Madagascar
A bushwhacking biologist unearths six-legged vampires, cannibals, and silk weavers in his quest to bring every ant on the planet into your home. 03.06.2006
The Sensitive Side of the Unicorn Whale
03.03.2006
A New Source of Terror: Drunk Birds
Avian flu or flying under the influence? 02.08.2006
The Year in Science: Biology
Giant squid sighting, mice that regenerate body parts, sweet-smelling parasites, and more. 01.09.2006
The Year in Science: Ornithology
01.08.2006
Biologists Find Life in Dark Frigid Trough
Biologists Find Life in Dark Frigid Trough 11.22.2005
Venomous Mouse Found
Is This a Job For Venomouse? 10.24.2005
Seafloor Food Source Identified
Seafloor Food Source Identified 10.24.2005
The Mother of Gardens
Countless plants Americans tend with pride all came from the wilds of China. 08.06.2005
Illuminated Life
Meet the true masters of optics: Animals that know a lot more about slicing, dicing, and twisting beams of light than we do 08.06.2005
The Microbes Are Listening
07.24.2005
The Biology of . . . Cryogenics
Wood frogs survive long periods in a deep freeze. Can people do the same? 02.06.2005
76: Weird Worms Feast on Whale Bones
01.02.2005
Hot-Weather Hibernators
10.01.2004
Meet Bumpy the Jellyfish
07.25.2004
Bzzzzzzzz
Why insects are vital to human survival 06.26.2004
Where Penguins Soar
06.17.2004
Splendor in the Dark
Scientists have discovered that fish in the ocean glow, gleam, spark, and light up like neon signs. Now they want to know how 05.29.2004
20,000 Microbes Under the Sea
Scientists have discovered that nearly a third of all the life on this planet consists of microbes living under the seafloor in a dark world without oxygen. Many of these tiny creatures make so much methane gas that if even a small proportion of it is released, we might be overwhelmed by huge tsunamis, runaway global warming, and extinctions 03.28.2004
Blast from the Vast
What's the purpose of nature's most powerful sound? 12.03.2003
The Secret Life of Ants
A myrmecologist captures the delicate subterranean mansions of the insect world's master architects 11.07.2003
In the Octopus's Kindergarten
Scientists discover that even deep-sea creatures dote on their kids. 10.18.2003
The Virus, the Manatee, and the Biologist
For once, saving an endangered species could save us too 08.01.2003
Butterflies Like Mates With a Twist
08.01.2003
Pumped-up Sharks
07.01.2003
The Genetics of . . . Dogs
Biologists say our champion purebreds could use some reverse engineering 04.01.2003
Seals are Guided by Voices
04.01.2003
Squid Sensitivity
The more electrophysiologist William Gilly learns about these mysterious denizens of the deep, the more they seem like an alien intelligence 04.01.2003
Transsexual Frogs
A popular weed killer makes some frogs grow the wrong sex organs. Your drinking water may have 30 times the dose they're getting 02.01.2003
The Chemistry of . . . Glue
Biochemists turn to mussels for a real bonding experience 02.01.2003
If All The Trees Fall in the Forest
Two sleuthing scientists track down the cause of sudden oak death, a new disease that threatens every oak, redwood, and Douglas fir in the country 12.01.2002
Oh, to Climb Like a Gecko!
12.01.2002
Coffee with a Killer
12.01.2002
Kingdom of the Panda
Can these threatened creatures thrive in freedom? Studies in the wild find reason for hope 11.01.2002
Eau d'Oiseau
11.01.2002
A Coat of Many Corpses
10.01.2002
Blue Revolution
Fish farming is rapidly becoming a bigger enterprise than beef ranching. Critics contend it is also destroying land along coasts and hastening the demise of wild fish 09.01.2002
Wilding America
Connect our last parcels of wilderness, like pearls on a necklace, and mountain lions, bobcats, and wolves might once again roam their ancestral ranges 09.01.2002
Cetacean Scatology
08.01.2002
Lights Out for the Birds
08.01.2002
Like Alaska, Like Europa
Could Jupiter's frozen moon support some arctic-like microbes? 05.01.2002
Talking Plants
Plants have more than thorns and thistles to protect themselves—they can cry for help 04.01.2002
When Life Was Hell
03.01.2002
Snake-in-the-Grass Lover
02.01.2002
Bloodsuckers
When modern medicine needs some help, surgeons call in mother nature's little helper—the leech 12.01.2001
All in the Whale Family
12.01.2001
A Thousand Eyes Without a Face
11.01.2001
The Biology of . . . Spider Silk
The race to synthesize the world's strongest fiber 09.01.2001
Why there are no Six-toed Sloths
09.01.2001
The Whale that Goes
09.01.2001
The Physics of . . . Deep-sea Animals
Evolution isn't pretty at 15,000 pounds per square inch 08.01.2001
Works in Progress
Chemists concoct a bait more tantalizing than human flesh 08.01.2001
How to Deliver a Bouncing Baby Amoeba
08.01.2001
Tuxedo Junction
Half a million penguins pull up to this bleak shore in Patagonia every year, after one of the most astonishing migrations in all of nature. One woman is trying to keep it that way. 07.01.2001
Reach Out and Stomp Someone
07.01.2001
Froggy went a-driftin'
07.01.2001
Is That a Mountain Lion in Your Backyard?
For two centuries these majestic cats have stayed as far from civilization as possible. But recently they seem to be developing a taste for suburban life 06.01.2001
High Life
03.01.2001
The Cold Zone
Testing a new theory of mammoth extinction in 02.01.2001
Sea Sick
Killer whales that live near Seattle are dying too soon and too often. Are they harbingers of an oceanic collapse—and are we next? 02.01.2001
One Marsupial Too Many
Australians face the same problem with koalas as Americans do with deer. The pesky critters seem too cute to kill but are destroying a lot of precious habitat 12.01.2000
New Life in a Death Trap
Will algae blooming in an acidic, poisonous Montana mine lead us to an answer for Superfund sites? 12.01.2000
Science Stats: Blubber Takes a Plunge
12.01.2000
The Bear Necessities
12.01.2000
Elixir of Spider Spit
09.01.2000
A Fuzzy Coup for Pfizer
08.01.2000
A Pop a Day Keeps the Predators Away
08.01.2000
Do Parasites Rule the World?
New evidence indicates our idea of how nature really works could be wrong 08.01.2000
Wolves at the Door
Can We Learn to Dance with Wild Things Again? 06.01.2000
A Slick Little Alien
06.01.2000
The Deadliest Carnivore
Half mongoose, half clouded leopard, Madagascar's fossa is rarely seen and barely understood yet essential to the natural balance of this threatened Eden 04.01.2000
The Physics of. . . Insect Flight
Insects have long been the best fliers around, but no one knew what kept them in the air--until now 04.01.2000
Bubbling Under
03.01.2000
Hanging by a Thread
With all but a quarter of Hawaii's native birds extinct or endangered, and its other species dying off faster than the dinosaurs, some island ecologists are risking their lives to save what's left 02.01.2000
Polly Wanna Ph.D.?
How smart can an animal get? Ask Irene Pepperberg's parrots. They'll be glad to discuss the subject with you 01.01.2000
Purple Passion
Most botanists in this country want to kill every single one of those gorgeous plants. Could they be wrong? 08.01.1999
To Hell and Back
In the hot, radioactive world miles below us, microbe hunters encounter bizarre bugs that eat and breathe geologic ingredients like iron, manganese, and sulfur and, gasp, maybe our ancestors 07.01.1999
Skin Breathers
06.01.1999
In Search of Megaplumes
Imagine volcanoes that erupt with giant spinning plumes filled with microbes and other life that spin like a discus for months. Welcome to the strange, almost completely unknown life of undersea eruptions. 03.01.1999
Whole Lotta Bugs
12.01.1998
Octoplay
11.01.1998
Bird Tongues and Flowers
11.01.1998
Dry as a Dust Mite
09.01.1998
Turtle Tears
08.01.1998
Ocean Watch: Bringing Tube Worms Back Alive
Until James Childress built his unique aquarium, you could find live tube worms only on the ocean floor, at depths of two miles or more. 05.01.1998
Coils of Time
It's not easy studying the nautilus, a creature that lurks in the depths of the ocean and emerges only at night to prowl the coral reefs. But the rewards are great: discovering just how old a living fossil can be. 03.01.1998
Light Elements: In the Nose of Jaws
Some parasitic copepods have seizedon a unique piece of ocean real estate. 03.01.1998
The Year in Science: Animals 1997
White Penguin Spotted 01.01.1998
The Year in Science: Animals 1997
Scarce Sharks Netted 01.01.1998
The Year in Science: Environment 1997
The Jaws You Can't See 01.01.1998
The Year in Science: Plants 1997
An Ancient Convenience 01.01.1998
Bat Spit
09.01.1997
Deep Sea Rebirth
07.01.1997
Looking for Life in All the Wrong Places
Microbes from the least hospitable places on Earth, could seed the universe with life. 05.01.1997
Bacterial Cement
Limestone-building bacteria could mend cracks in concrete. 04.01.1997
Fiber-optic Sponges
03.01.1997
Whirlybird
03.01.1997
Naked Selfless Mole Rats
03.01.1997
The Dolphin Strategy
By all rights, life in the sea should leave a dolphin baked, crushed, and sterile. This graceful mammal avoids such a fate only by slipping through loopholes in the laws of physiology. 03.01.1997
Leak Before You Leap
02.01.1997
A Hunka, Hunka Burnin' Buds
02.01.1997
Archae Tells All
Genetic testing reveals our long-lost cousins thriving in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. 01.01.1997
Cave-Dwellers in Romania
01.01.1997
Deep Rumblings, Part 1
01.01.1997
Eye-popping Amphibians
01.01.1997
Subtle Cuttle
12.01.1996
Superant
11.01.1996
The Light at the Bottom of the Sea
Two miles below the surface of the sea, a mysterious glow emerges from cracks in the Earth. In that glow, the first steps to photosynthesis may have taken place, 3.8 billion years ago. 11.01.1996
Home on the Bone
10.01.1996
Life in the Dead Sea
08.01.1996
Great Balls o' Bryozoans
08.01.1996
Just Trying to Fit In
07.01.1996
Ballistic Propagation
05.01.1996
It Takes More Than Faith
05.01.1996
Beetle of Burden
04.01.1996
Rock-Eating Slime
03.01.1996
The Fake Smell of Death
Novel chemicals may help teach dogs to sniff out corpses, drugs, and bombs. 03.01.1996
They Came From the Oligocene, He Said
01.01.1996
North to the Fish, South to the Beach
01.01.1996
Hypersea Invasion
Why is life on land such a spectacular success? Because, say Dianna and Mark McMenamin, 450 million years ago life created Hypersea--a vast new ocean of interconnected tissues whose ways are chartered by pioneering fungi and parasites. 10.01.1995
The Processing Plant
Bugs that fall into a purple pitcher plant get drowned in acid. Their carcasses are then ground up by a microscopic disassembly line: a chain of insect larvae that thrive in the pitcher pool, cooperating to feed themselves--and the plant. 09.01.1995
Guinness Book Gametes
03.02.1995
Triumph of the Archaea
02.01.1995
The Trembling Giant
The quaking aspen, one of this country's most beautiful trees, also makes up the world's most massive organism. 10.01.1993
Jurassic Sea Monsters
Extinction comes to species on land and in the sea but not in the same way. As the tales of some remarkable creatures from many millions of years ago show who goes first is a matter of ecology. 09.01.1993
Killer Algae
A horrific predatory little plant is beating up on fish around the world. 04.01.1993
The Evolution of the Dragon
In the jungles of Indonesia, those giant, cold-blooded, man-eating monsters of Yore have not only survived, they've climbed to the top of the carnivore heap. 12.01.1992
The Pronghorn's Prowess
12.01.1992
Time Zero
12.01.1992
Go Fish
03.01.1992
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