Animals

Surfer Alexis Gazzo (left) is helping train specialized lifeguards who will survey the waters around popular beaches in Reunion for sharks. Shark attacks have gone up sharply along the coast of the Indian Ocean island, with seven people killed in recent y

World News

An Island Wonders: Why Are The Sharks Attacking So Often?

2:56pm May 25, 2015

by Emma Jacobs

Since 2011, the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has had 16 shark attacks, seven of them fatal. It's a sharp rise from previous years; Australia is the only country with more deaths during this span.

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Josh Brones walks his hunting dogs, Dollar (from left), Sequoia and Tanner, near his home in Wilton, Calif., in 2012.

Science

Who Let The Dogs In? We Did, About 30,000 Years Ago

7:36pm May 22, 2015

by Scott Neuman

A new study suggests that canis familiaris split from wolves much earlier than the 11,000 to 16,000 years ago that was long assumed.

Plankton collected in the Pacific Ocean with a 0.1mm mesh net. Seen here is a mix of multicellular organisms — small zooplanktonic animals, larvae and single protists (diatoms, dinoflagellates, radiolarians) — the nearly invisible universe at the bott

Revealed: The Ocean's Tiniest Life At The Bottom Of The Food Chain

5:54pm May 22, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

The ocean's tiniest inhabitants — including bacteria, plankton, krill — are food for most everything that swims or floats. Now, scientists have completed a count of this vast and diverse hidden world.

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This fungus among us — baker's yeast, aka Saccharomyces cerevisiae — is useful for more than just making bread.

You And Yeast Have More In Common Than You Might Think

4:02pm May 22, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Genetically, at least, not that much has changed in the billion years since you two last shared a relative. Roughly half the 500 genes yeast need for life are interchangeable with the human versions.

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Stuffed Tiger, Camera-Stealing Elephant Get Attention

7:32am May 22, 2015

Police in Washington responded to a call about a Bengal tiger — turns out it was a stuffed animal. In Thailand, an elephant grabbed a tourist's camera. Instead of a selfie, can we call it an elfie?

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"No trespassing" signs are posted on the edge of a field at a farm operated by Daybreak Foods near Eagle Grove, Iowa, which has been designated "bio security area," on May 17.

Avian Flu Outbreak Takes Poultry Producers Into Uncharted Territory

4:25pm May 21, 2015

by Peggy Lowe and Sarah Boden

Avian influenza is ravaging poultry flocks across the Upper Midwest. The virus is "doing things we've never seen it do before," and understanding about transmission is very limited, a scientist says.

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NOAA Fisheries biologist Nick Wegner holds an opah caught during a research survey off the California coast. Researchers say the opah is the first fish known to be fully warmblooded, circulating heated blood throughout its body.

Science

First In Fish: 'Fully Warmblooded' Moonfish Prowls The Deep Seas

3:12pm May 21, 2015

by Bill Chappell

"It's hard to stay warm when you're surrounded by cold water but the opah has figured it out," a NOAA Fisheries biologist says.

Cattle that are grass-fed and free of antibiotics and growth hormones are seen at Kookoolan Farm in Yamhill, Ore.

FDA Wants To Pull Back The Curtain, Slightly, On Farm Antibiotics

9:16pm May 20, 2015

by Dan Charles

The Food and Drug Administration wants to know which farm animals are getting treated most heavily. But the FDA's proposal still falls short of the best European data practices.

The most recent common ancestor of all today's snakes likely lived 120 million years ago. Scientists believe it used needle-like hooked teeth to grab rodent-like creatures that it then swallowed whole.

Earth's First Snake Likely Evolved On Land, Not In Water

12:09pm May 20, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Genetic sleuthing and comparisons of recently discovered fossils with living snakes point to a "protosnake" ancestor that likely had tiny hind legs and lived about 120 million years ago.

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The White House announced an action plan Tuesday aimed at reversing dramatic declines in pollinators like honeybees, which play a vital role in agriculture, pollinating everything from apples and almonds to squash.

Pollinator Politics: Environmentalists Criticize Obama Plan To Save Bees

12:09pm May 20, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

The White House's strategy to reverse dramatic declines in bee numbers calls for the restoration of 7 million acres of bee-friendly habitat. Critics say the plan ignores a key culprit: pesticides.

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