Even Though They Don’t Have Brains Jellyfish And Sea Anemones Sleep Like Humans

www.smithsonianmag.com

Sleep may have evolved to help reduce DNA damage in nerve cells long before they became centralized in the brain, a study suggests

Surviving the Hook

oceanbites.org

What is the likelihood of a shark surviving a catch and release from a recreational fishery?

Get to know the western spotted skunk – High Country News

www.hcn.org

‘The stench kind of permeates everything’: What it takes to study a stinky, secretive skunk

These Parasitic Ant Queens Found A Sneaky Way To Stage A Coup Trick A Colony Into Killing Its Mother

www.smithsonianmag.com

While ant queen violence is well-known, scientists recently documented the first evidence of parasite-induced matricide

Bat vs. Robin—Scientists Capture Real-Life Audio of Midair Hunt

www.scientificamerican.com

For the nearly three-year-old female bat soaring into the Spanish skies in March 2023, it was just another night of striving to feed herself. But her overnight exploits were about to become the stuff that scientists’ dreams are made of.The…

To Catch A Killer Shark

www.biographic.com

Using DNA analysis, scientists linked the same shark to two bites on people. Now, they want to use the work to save other sharks' lives.

Colds Bring Lots of Snot—But Just How Much?

Scientific American

When you’re struggling through a case of the common cold, the snot pouring from your nose seems endless. You go through countless tissues to mop up all the chunky, bright yellow boogers and thin, runny mucus, heaping up mountain ranges…

We thought this bear was out cold. We were mistaken.

A weak radio signal led us to several empty dens, and as the sun set, we considered turning back. Then a curtain of snow collapsed, revealing a sandstone cave. It narrowed to a dark tunnel, and the musky scent of wild animal steamed from within.

Insects in the Mail

JSTOR Daily

In 1733, French scientist Ferchault de Réaumur received a strange package in the mail. It contained a few stalks of asparagus and a collection of leaves. But, among the plants, Réaumur found what he had requested: beetles and bugs in various stages of development.

Risking His Own Extinction to Rescue the Rarest of Flowers

In Australia, he went plant hunting by helicopter and waded in crocodile-infested waters to watch a water lily bloom. In Mauritius, he grabbed a plant specimen off the ledge of a cliff.

How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World

WIRED

Off the southwest tip of Iceland, you’ll find what’s often called a “marginal” body of water. This part of the Atlantic, the Irminger Sea, is one of the stormiest places in the northern hemisphere. On Google Maps it gets three stars: “very windy,” says one review.

Introducing co-cultures: When co-habiting animal species share culture

Interactions between Japanese macaques and Sika deer. Credit: Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.

The Worm Charmers

Oxford American

Later, the men noticed worms appearing when they chopped wood or ran saws against saplings. Gary remembered using an axe handle as a stob, rubbing the blade of another axe against it.

The Great Psychedelic Experiment

The Great Psychedelic Experiment | Broadcast

“If there is one quick truism about psychedelic drugs it is that anyone who tries to write about them without first-hand experience is a fool and a fraud.” — Hunter S.

The Man Who Turned the World on to the Genius of Fungi

One evening last winter, Merlin Sheldrake, the mycologist and author of the best-selling book “Entangled Life,” was headlining an event in London’s Soho. The night was billed as a “salon,” and the crowd, which included the novelist Edward St.

‘Bees are sentient’: inside the stunning brains of nature’s hardest workers

the Guardian

When Stephen Buchmann finds a wayward bee on a window inside his Tucson, Arizona, home, he goes to great lengths to capture and release it unharmed. Using a container, he carefully traps the bee against the glass before walking to his garden and placing it on a flower to recuperate.

Do Trees Really Support Each Other through a Network of Fungi?

Scientific American

The tips of tree roots are intertwined with filaments of fungus, forming a hidden underground network that seems to benefit both organisms: the filaments, known as hyphae, break down minerals from the soil that trees can then take into their roots, while the fungus gets a steady source of sugar from

The Scientific History of Cannabinoids

Smithsonian Magazine

Over several decades, researchers have identified more than 140 active compounds, called cannabinoids, in the cannabis plant.

Finding Awe Amid Everyday Splendor

NOEMA

We were halfway down the Point Reyes peninsula when Dacher Keltner wandered off-trail. He stopped at an outcrop of granite boulders, where the ground fell away toward Driftwood Beach and the wide, open Pacific beyond. A coastal fog bank was moving in, shrouding the horizon.

Why Do Bears Rub Against Trees? Scientists Offer New Explanation.

There are many reasons bears shimmy and scratch against trees. Sometimes they communicate by scent-marking trees, other times they’re removing hair and scratching that hard-to-reach itch. A new study posits an additional perk: slathering on nature-made tick repellent.