Animals

A sea butterfly at different stages of a wing beat.

Science

WATCH: Incredible Tiny Snail Beats Its Watery Wings And 'Flies'

8:23pm February 18, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Scientists say Limacina helicina, which moves much like a fruit fly, represents a "remarkable" evolutionary convergence. Its ancestors and those of flying insects diverged some 550 million years ago.

National

In Arkansas, Locals Decry Comeback Of Nuisance Black Vultures

7:44pm February 15, 2016

by Jacqueline Froelich

Black vultures are making a huge comeback. Twenty eight states now host populations of the large birds, prompting concern about their destructive nature among farmers and residents.

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Green when young, and about the size of an adult human's hand when full-grown, Dryococelus australis is more commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect, or the tree lobster.

Love Giant Insects? Meet The Tree Lobster, Back From The Brink

2:33pm February 11, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The 8-inch insect nearly went extinct when hungry rats overran its island. But Melbourne scientists found a few in 2001 and started a thriving colony. Now the San Diego Zoo is hatching them, too.

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A Fix For Gender-Bias In Animal Research Could Help Humans

4:40pm February 10, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Women report more bad side effects from medicines than men do. Researchers say the discrepancy may stem in part from how biomedical research is conducted at its earliest stages in animals.

Scott Weaver, of the University of Texas Medical Branch, was one of only a few scientists studying Zika before the latest outbreak in Latin America.

Virus Profilers Race To Figure Out What Makes Zika Tick

3:14pm February 10, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Though Zika was discovered in 1947, few scientists since had studied the virus. Now, while some check its genes, others turn to placental cells for clues to any link between Zika and birth defects.

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Wisdom, a Laysan albatross that's believed to be 65 years old, and her mate have welcomed a new chick at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Here, a week-old chick peeks out from its nest.

An Old Bird Can Hatch A New Chick — Even At Age 65

12:12pm February 10, 2016

by Bill Chappell

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross that researchers first tagged in 1956, has hatched what could be her 40th chick, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says.

Badger Aids British Archaeologists

8:10am February 09, 2016

Relics from the Bronze Age were discovered just north of Stonehenge by a burrowing badger. The bronze saw, copper chisel and an archer's wrist guard date back 4,000 years ago.

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According to legend, the Explorers Club — a society of scientific adventurers — served its members a prehistoric dish at its annual dinner in 1951. By some accounts, the mystery meat was woolly mammoth; by others, extinct giant sloth. Now DNA analysis

Science

Two Grad Students Use Science To Bust The Dinner Hoax Of The Century

6:08pm February 05, 2016

by Angus Chen

In 1951, members of the scientific Explorers Club thought they had dined on prehistoric meat dug out of the Alaskan tundra. The meal became legend. Now two Yale students have unraveled the deception.

Sporadic dengue fever outbreaks in Florida in 2009 and 2010 spurred mosquito control efforts in Key West and Miami Beach, shown here. The same mosquito that carries dengue, Aedes aegypti, can transmit Zika.

Florida Governor Ramps Up Mosquito Fight To Stay Ahead Of Zika

12:33pm February 05, 2016

by Greg Allen

It's only a matter of time, Gov. Rick Scott figures, before the Zika virus shows up in Florida mosquitoes. He's called for increased spraying and other moves to keep Zika and other diseases in check.

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Billy The Kid Is On The Loose

7:29am February 05, 2016

He is better known at the University of Iowa as William the Goat. One of 14 goats owned by the school, he escaped last week. There have been several spottings but authorities can't pin him down.