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ScienceBiologySize Matters: Narwhals With Longer Tusks Have Bigger Testicles
Narwhals grow long tusks, if they have the balls to do it. The spear at the end of the male sea unicorn has been variously thought to be a sensory organ, a device for battling other males, or an elaborate reproductive signal. New evidence shows they’re the whale version of peacock feathers. The latest research, … Continued
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ScienceBiology
You Otter Know, It’s Sea Otter Awareness Week!
Happy Sea Otter Awareness Week! If you live in California, check out the events happening near you. Everyone else, get ready for some otter science this week. Also I’m really sorry for that terrible pun. Otterly sorry. For now, marvel at the photogenic majesty of these sea weasels. Above: Sea Otter in Morro Bay, Andrew … Continued
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ScienceBiologyNat Geo Wild‘s Radical Approach to Science TV: Being Truthful
Science television in America has had a rough few years. We’ve been told that mermaids exist (they don’t) and that Megalodon lives (it doesn’t). Investigative journalists have discovered that some wildlife shows mistreat animals. But Nat Geo Wild has largely bucked the trend of misleading or lying outright to viewers. How does Nat Geo Wild … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Australian Vet Removed a Brain Tumor From a Goldfish Named George
The BBC is reporting that a goldfish in Australia is now recovering from a successful surgery in which a tumor was removed from its brain. Dr Tristan Rich, who carried out the operation, told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station that the fish was now “up and about and swimming around”. Vets say the 10-year-old fish is … Continued
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io9
Could You Use A Placebo To Calm Your Anxious Dog?
When a dog is left alone, it can be scary for them. Some dogs get so anxious that they destroy your stuff, scratch up your front door, and bark so loud it annoys your neighbors. But now it looks like there might be a solution – and it involves a simple placebo. Header image: Flickr/Paul … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Can The Placebo Effect Help Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety?
The placebo effect is traditionally thought to require some sort of conscious awareness. The sugar pill you just took helps your headache only because you think it will work. Recent research with rats challenged that assumption, and now it looks like placebos can fool dogs too. Despite the fact that placebos can involve both physiological … Continued
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ScienceBiology
You’ll Never Believe What It Costs To Rent A Panda From China
China owns all the pandas. If you’ve got some pandas at your local zoo, they’re probably on loan. Moving animals around for breeding is common, but for-profit rental at this scale may be unique to the bamboo-munching bears. Writing in The Guardian this weekend, John Vidal explains the emerging field of “pandanomics”: The pandas are … Continued
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ScienceBiologyWatch Scientists Dissect a Colossal Squid Right Now
Squid biologists from Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Auckland University of Technology are dissecting a colossal squid. It’s happening live, right now, on YouTube. Watch! The Museum explains on their YouTube page: This colossal squid and the specimen already on display at Te Papa are the only two of their kind caught … Continued
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ScienceBiology
The New “Werewolf Cat” Highlights The Complicated Ethics of Breeding
Usually, people prefer cats with full, robust fur, shunning those mangier specimens with thin, scraggly hairs. But that might be changing. The “werewolf cat” just might be the next big thing. The Lykoi cat is a new breed, one that’s only been around for a few years. The name is derived from the word “lycanthrope,” … Continued
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ScienceBiologyThis Baby Fennec Fox Is Just The Happiest
The three-month-old male, weighing in at a scant 1.5 pounds, is in quarantine at the San Diego Zoo. Soon, the fox will begin training to become an “animal ambassador” for the species, meaning he’ll participate in educational programs. Fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda) are native to the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. While they’re not particularly … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Before Whale Falls, There Were Ichthyosaur Falls
When a whale dies out in the open ocean, its body slowly drifts to the seafloor, where it breathes life into a temporary ecosystem. But whales weren’t the first ones to live on after death; Jurassic giants did too. When a whale’s lifeless body finally rests on the ocean’s floor, tiny deep sea creatures turn … Continued
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ScienceBiologyThe Squirrels Are Watching You
Squirrels are among the most recognizable, easy to find kinds of urban wildlife. And, as it turns out, they’re watching us. In a non-parody blog post that Scicurious wrote in advance of the video above (which is clearly a parody), she explains that squirrels pay attention to humans – in particular, they pay attention to … Continued
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ScienceBiologyWatch A Pod of Orcas Stalk, Attack, and Feast on A Tiger Shark
They don’t call them killer whales for nothing. In this gorgeous footage from filmmaker Edwar Herreño, a pod of six orcas make a meal out of a tiger shark in the waters off Costa Rica. Herreño isn’t just a photographer and filmmaker, he’s also a marine biologist. His work has appeared on CNN, Animal Planet, … Continued
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ScienceBiology
The Science of Dog Training: Is It Okay To Use A Shock Collar?
No matter what you call them – shock collars, e-collars, or the more scientific-sounding “collar mounted electronic training aids” – are designed with the most basic form of learning in mind, operant conditioning. How Do Shock Collars Work? From a psychological perspective, the idea is remarkably simple. An animal has a behavior you’d like to … Continued
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io9
The Science of Dog Training: Is It Okay To Use A Shock Collar?
The use of electronic shock collars as aids in dog training is, to put it mildly, controversial. Some are outraged that owners would subject their canine companions to electric shocks; others insist they’re the only way to get their dogs to behave. What does science say? Let us break it down for you. Image: Verkhovynets … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Ancient Egyptian Art Contains The Records of Past Extinctions
Six thousand years ago, the Egyptian wilderness was a very different place. Lions ruled, zebras gathered in large herds, giraffes foraged from tall trees. We know that, in part, thanks to drawings on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs. Can ancient art help us better understand modern Egyptian wildlife? Fossilized remains of plants and animals … Continued
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ScienceBiology
What Kind of Demon Sorcery Created This Laser-Spitting Fish?
It’s not a mutant fish nor a piscine wizard. The source of the light is actually the defense of the clever, microscopic animal who just wants to get through the day without being gobbled up. Is that too much to ask? The see-through cardinalfish evolved in lockstep with tiny little crustaceans called ostracods. The millimeter-long … Continued
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ScienceBiologyThis Map Shows How Hunting Wiped Out Whales In Less Than A Century
A century of commercial whale hunting has devastated whale populations around the globe, some to just 10% of their historic size. This animated map shows how different whale populations were systematically slaughtered between 1900 and 2011. But there’s a bright spot: California’s blue whales are doing great! There are a few things that pop out. … Continued
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ScienceBiology
5 X-Rays That Reveal The Craziest Things Pets Have Ever Swallowed
Veterinarians see some crazy things come through their office doors. But perhaps the most entertaining – at least in cases where the animals come out just fine – show up on x-rays. Owners bring their pets in because they’re acting weird or not eating, and then you find out that Fluffy swallowed an alien. Whoops. … Continued
Jason G. Goldman
Jason G. Goldman's posts
