Animals

The world champions of power naps are — chinstrap penguins

6:11am December 01, 2023

A new study reveals chinstrap penguins, who live in a noisy environment, fall asleep thousands of times in one day — for a few seconds each time. They need to be alert for predators.

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This week in science: Cellular 'robots,' sleeping penguins and a rediscovered echidna

5:57pm November 30, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Regina Barber and Aaron Scott of Short Wave about building cellular 'robots,' the bizarre sleeping habits of chinstrap penguins, and a lost echidna found again.

De Winton's golden mole, a blind mole that lives beneath the sand, has been rediscovered in Port Nolloth, South Africa. The small mammal has evaded scientists for nearly 90 years, using sensitive hearing that can detect vibrations from movement above the surface.

Science

Holy Mole-y: A sniffer dog helps rediscover a rare mole

11:55am November 30, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

The De Winton's golden mole was last spotted in 1936. But with the help of a mole-sniffing dog and new environmental DNA analysis, researchers are taking it off the most wanted lost species list.

National

Are there too many people in Colorado for gray wolves to thrive?

12:00pm November 29, 2023

by Kirk Siegler

Colorado's urban population flipped the state from red to blue, allowing a referendum on a polarizing issue to pass. Wildlife officials are now preparing for the reintroduction of gray wolves.

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This photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, from a remote camera set by biologist Chris Stermer, shows a wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest near Truckee, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2016, a rare sighting of the elusive species in the state. Scientists estimate that only about 300 wolverines survive in the contiguous U.S.

U.S. moves to protect wolverines as climate change melts their mountain refuges

11:20am November 29, 2023

by The Associated Press

The North American wolverine would receive threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal. Warming temperatures are expected to shrink the mountain snowpack wolverines rely on.

A fisherman holds Bowie the lobster, which was caught off the coast of Maine.

National

Bowie the lobster is half-blue, half-red, and all kinds of rare

5:10am November 27, 2023

by Alina Hartounian

Bowie, named after pop icon David Bowie, has clawed its way to internet stardom. The split-color crustacean was caught by a lobster fisherman off the coast of Maine.

World News

Rat plague hits an Australian coastal town, and thousands more wash up on shore

5:07am November 27, 2023

by Bill Chappell

Months after the local shire's council discussed what it dubbed a "Rat Plague," thousands of rats are creating havoc in a small town on the coast in Queensland.

Axolotls became an internet sensation in 2021 after the video game Minecraft added the species into its universe.

To save axolotls, a campaign in Mexico asks people to virtually adopt them

5:00am November 27, 2023

by Juliana Kim

To help protect the salamander, the National Autonomous University of Mexico launched a campaign asking people to virtually adopt an axolotl or help pay for one of its meals.

Health & Safety

Dog walking injuries can be surprisingly common

9:53am November 25, 2023

by Scott Simon

A study from Johns Hopkins University reveals the extent of dog walking injuries that are bad enough to send people to the ER. (This story first aired on Weekend Edition on May 13, 2023.)

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Health & Safety

For some people struggling with addictions, spending time with horses is healing

8:08am November 25, 2023

by Scott Simon

Equine therapy can help those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Two men receiving treatment near Philadelphia talk with NPR's Scott Simon about their special bond with horses.