Animals

A diving whale off the coast of Southern California near the Los Angeles suburb of Palos Verdes in 2010.

Whale Traffic Jam Delights Visitors And Baffles Scientists

6:13pm December 30, 2013

by Kirk Siegler

Now is a good time to spot gray whales off the coast of Southern California, but scientists have been seeing an unusually high number of other whales. "The fact that we're getting a chance to see at this time of year fin whales, blue whales, is really a mystery," says a marine biologist.

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A technique called optogenetics is being used in the laboratory to observe and control what brain circuits are doing in real time.

Experimental Tool Uses Light To Tweak The Living Brain

8:09am December 30, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

An experimental technique called optogenetics is starting to change the way researchers look at the brain. The tool allows them to switch entire brain circuits on and off using light, and may help figure out what's going wrong in brain ailments from epilepsy to depression.

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A Scientist's New Job: Keeping The Polar Bears' Plight Public

3:43pm December 28, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

Global warming is pushing species like the polar bear to the brink of extinction. It's not a typical conservation problem, so one government biologist discovered the best way he could help save the great white bears was to quit his job.

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After Major Comeback, Is The Gray Wolf Still Endangered?

7:15pm December 27, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list. The wolf had been extirpated from the West and had dwindled most other places in the U.S. The great canine has rebounded since it was reintroduced to the northern Rockies in the 1990s and is continuing to spread into the Pacific Northwest. But biologists warn that if these wolves loses federal protection, they will not be able to return to some places, such as Colorado, where the ecosystem sorely needs them.

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(Clockwise, from left)Yuanzai; Mei Huan; Happy Leopard; Mei Lun; Xing Bao; Bao Bao.

Science

Beyond Cuteness: Scientists Deliver A Panda Baby Boom

8:02pm December 24, 2013

by Andrea Hsu

Forty-two of the 49 panda cubs born in captivity in 2013 have survived — a record number that says a lot about how far captive breeding programs have come. But while captive pandas are faring well, panda researchers warn that much more needs to be done to protect the wild population.

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The Texas Camel Corps guides camel treks through the Big Bend region of Texas, where such animals once served American settlers in the late 1800s.

National

Camels Trek In The Texas Desert, Just Like Old Times

10:28pm December 21, 2013

by Wade Goodwyn

The Texas Camel Corps leads trips through the rugged Big Bend region of West Texas. Indigenous people lived in the area some 9,000 years ago, and for a while, camels called it home, too. In the 1800s, U.S. soldiers brought the animals in to traverse the distance between water supplies for the first American settlers.

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Mountain Gorillas, one of the first dioramas on which Fred Scherer apprenticed, completed in 1936.

Arts

In The Background: Art You May Never Notice

12:31am December 18, 2013

by Claire O'Neill

Why that unassuming museum art — which you'll find behind taxidermic bison and birds — deserves a closer look.

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Freshly caught catfish wriggle in large nets in Doddsville, Miss.

Battle Of The Bottom Feeder: U.S., Vietnam In Catfish Fight

1:17pm December 16, 2013

by Jackie Northam

When the popularity of catfish moved from the South across the U.S. in the 1980s, American catfish farmers could barely keep up with demand. But Vietnam has flooded the U.S. market with cheaper catfish, driving many catfish farms out of business and sparking a dispute that threatens a major trade deal.

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National Zoo Creates 'Name The Panda' Contest

12:51pm December 12, 2013

The zoo in Washington, D.C. says the name will be bestowed on Dec. 1 when the cub is 100 days old. In the meantime, the baby panda is getting acquainted with its surroundings.

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Chefs Andrew Taylor, left, and Mike Wiley, co-owners of two Portland, Maine, restaurants, say the moratorium is worth it if it helps sustain the shrimp population.

Fishery Closure Puts New England's Shrimp Season On Ice

9:56pm December 07, 2013

by Tom Porter

After several years of declining shrimp stocks, regulators have imposed a moratorium on shrimping in New England waters. The closure could hurt commercial fisherman and future demand for the Gulf of Maine shrimp, but scientists say the move may be the only way to prevent the population from collapsing.

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