Animals

Joseph Blackman, a Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspector, at work in Miami. Mosquitoes infected with Zika are now spreading the illness in at least four different parts of the city, according to federal health officials.

Zika May Be In The U.S. To Stay

5:18pm October 26, 2016

by Greg Allen

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now urges pregnant women to "consider postponing travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County." Zika is on the way to becoming an endemic disease in the U.S.

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National

Tiny Vessels Make Much Noise: Listen To Ants As They Walk

4:58pm October 21, 2016

The everyday ant seldom gets close enough to a microphone to be amplified and heard but 'The World According to Sound' podcast manages to let us listen to the insects as they go about their day.

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Biologist Tyrone Hayes speaking with filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer at TED Women.

How Do Common Chemicals Affect Frogs, Rats — And Maybe Us?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Biologist Tyrone Hayes talks about the concerning effects of the herbicide atrazine, which is part of a group of chemicals that are found in everyday food and household products.

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How Do Toxins From Plastics Find Their Way Into Our Food?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Ocean advocate Emily Penn has seen first hand how much plastic ends up in the oceans. She explains how the toxins from plastic makes their way into our food chain and how we might be able to stop it.

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Director Holly Morris speaking at TED Global in 2013.

Can A Place Still Be Home Even After Becoming Toxic?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Even thirty years after the devastating nuclear accident in Chernobyl, there are still people who call the place home. Filmmaker Holly Morris tells the stories of the mostly elderly women who stayed.

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Spanish rejoneador Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza brandishes a banderilla as he fights a bull during the El Pilar Feria at La Misericordia bullring last week.

World News

Spanish Top Court Overturns Catalonia's Bullfighting Ban

5:48pm October 20, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The judges ruled it was unconstitutional and infringed on the government's responsibility to preserve Spain's cultural patrimony. Catalan lawmakers approved the ban in 2010, citing animal cruelty.

The newly discovered dinosaur species Savannasaurus elliottorum was about half the length of a basketball court and lived some 95 million years ago.

Science

Dinosaurs Down Under May Help Explain Prehistoric Migrations

4:42pm October 20, 2016

by Geoff Brumfiel

The remains of two titanosaur species discovered in Australia provide clues about how ancient plant-eaters proliferated.

'Last Gasp' To Save The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow From Extinction

4:23pm October 20, 2016

by Amy Green

A tiny bird called the Florida grasshopper sparrow is on the brink of extinction. Fewer than 150 are believed to remain in the wild.

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Burmese python and the DNA sequence responsible for limb loss.

Science

How Snakes Lost Their Legs

2:58pm October 20, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Scientists in Florida say they've pinpointed a genetic process that caused snakes to lose their legs and have found that embryonic pythons still form "cryptic leg skeletons," millions of years later.

Bao Bao has been living separately from her mother, Mei Xiang, since March 2015.

Bye-Bye, Bao Bao: Popular Giant Panda Heads To China This Winter

11:59am October 20, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The National Zoo's giant pandas are on loan from China, and the agreement requires that any pandas born in D.C. be sent to China before they turn 4. It'll soon be time for Bao Bao to make the journey.