In November 2021, the French government passed legislation banning the performance of cetaceans, including whales and dolphins. In anticipation of the law coming into effect late next year, the French Riviera’s Marineland closed its doors in January. Four months later, two orcas are still captive in the abandoned marine zoo’s algae-infested tanks. Earlier this month, […]
AI Is Deciphering Animal Speech. Should We Try to Talk Back?
Chirps, trills, growls, howls, squawks. Animals converse in all kinds of ways, yet humankind has only scratched the surface of how they communicate with each other and the rest of the living world. Our species has trained some animals—and if you ask cats, animals have trained us, too—but we’ve yet to truly crack the code […]
Rare Snail Caught Laying Egg Though Its Neck, in Scientific First
The miracle of life can be majestic at times. Other times, it’s an incredibly rare snail in New Zealand having kids out of its neck hole. In a first, officials at New Zealand’s Department of Conservation have documented a Powelliphanta augusta snail laying its eggs. The carnivorous land snails are known for their unique method […]
The Next Wave of 17-Year Cicadas Is About to Party, Scream, and Die
A special brood of cicadas—an ancient lineage of the periodical insects—is set to burst from the soil this May and June, covering more of the United States than any other 17-year brood. These bugs—collectively known as Brood XIV—have been biding their time underground since the last Bush administration, biding their time and counting the years […]
Iguanas Pulled Off ‘Crazy’ Record-Breaking Ocean Voyage, Scientists Say
Iguanas on the remote islands of Fiji may appear to live chill lives, but according to new research they had to work for it: by floating across thousands of miles of ocean on vegetation in the last 30 million years or so. That’s right. A new investigation of the Iguanidae family tree—a tree that includes […]
Plastic Triggered a New Geological Epoch—and the Evidence May Be in Bird Nests
Plastic may have started a new geological era on our planet, sometimes called the Anthropocene. Hundreds and even thousands of years from now, scientists may date sediment layers by finding bits of old plastic, similar to how today’s archaeologists date excavations by the art styles of ancient pottery. In fact, this has already begun: Researchers […]
Plastic Triggered a New Geological Epoch—and the Evidence May Be in Bird Nests
Plastic may have started a new geological era on our planet, sometimes called the Anthropocene. Hundreds and even thousands of years from now, scientists may date sediment layers by finding bits of old plastic, similar to how today’s archaeologists date excavations by the art styles of ancient pottery. In fact, this has already begun: Researchers […]
Winning Nature Photographs Capture the Gripping Intensity of Animal Life
Nature is scary at all scales. Look no further than the winners of the Nature inFocus photography competition, whose winning photographs for 2024 were recently announced. Life of all sorts are constantly vying for another day on this Earth. Now, the Nature inFocus photography contest winners showcases the environs and interactions of a selection of […]