Science & Nature
The Truth About Turtles Breathing Through Their Butts Under Ice
Painted turtles survive months under ice without air. See which turtles truly breathe through their butts, and how the rest outlast winter on little oxygen.
Where Gila Monsters Go In The Winter
A Gila monster spends 95 percent of its life underground and about three weeks a year on the surface. Winter is not a retreat. It is just more of the same.
Green Moray Eel
Green Moray Eel is not really green. Its color comes from yellow mucus on brown skin, and a second set of jaws in its throat drags prey down.
What The Juno Spacecraft Found Hiding Under Jupiter’s Clouds
Juno looked beneath Jupiter's swirling clouds and found that its familiar storms are only the beginning of a far stranger world hidden deep inside.
Where Black Bears Are Spreading Back In The East
Where Black Bears Are Spreading Back In The East traces a comeback from Arkansas releases to new sightings in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois as forests regrow.
How Long Rattlesnakes Can Go Without Eating In Winter
Western diamondbacks cut their resting metabolism by 72 percent over 168 days without food, and grew longer while doing it. Six months is routine.
Giant Freshwater Stingray
Giant Freshwater Stingray can grow wider than a dinner table, and one caught in the Mekong set the record as the largest freshwater fish ever documented.
Why Space Is So Cold If The Sun Is So Hot
Sunlight crosses the near-vacuum of space without warming it, since so little matter is there to absorb it. Planets heat up, but the space between stays cold.
Where Bald Eagles Gather In The Winter
Where Bald Eagles Gather In The Winter depends on open water, easy food, and sheltered trees, which draw thousands of eagles to Alaska’s Chilkat River.
The American Rivers With The Most River Otters
The American rivers with the most river otters, from the Upper Mississippi and Louisiana’s Atchafalaya to the Columbia, Snake, Suwannee, and Yellowstone.
Where Cottonmouths Live In The United States
Where Cottonmouths Live In The United States comes down to slow, warm water across the Southeast, where these vipers flash white mouths rather than chase.
Why Earth Is The Only Planet Not Named After A God
Every other planet carries a god's name. Earth kept the Old English word for soil, because nobody knew it was a planet until Copernicus put it in orbit.
The Most Populous Mammals in the World
Most of the largest mammal populations on Earth are domesticated animals or common livestock species like cows, cats, dogs, sheep, etc.
Why Florida Has So Many Alligators
Why Florida Has So Many Alligators comes down to warm weather, vast wetlands, and a comeback that turned a nearly lost reptile into a thriving population.
What Animals Live In The Amazon Rainforest?
The Amazon rainforest spans 2.1 million square miles, housing rare wildlife, diverse ecosystems, and approximately 10% of Earth's known species.
Why Antivenom Is Made From Horses
A 450-kilogram animal can safely give two percent of its body weight in blood. That single fact explains why antivenom has run on horses since 1894
The Fastest Reptiles In The World
Meet the fastest reptiles in the world, from the leatherback sea turtle's record ocean sprint to the black mamba's blistering land speed.
Titan Triggerfish
Titan Triggerfish guard their nests so fiercely that divers learn to swim sideways, not up, to escape the cone-shaped zone these big reef fish defend.
5 Endangered Animals Fighting For Survival In Indiana
These beloved animals in the state of Indiana, including the swamp rabbit, the trumpeter swan, the plains leopard frog, and more, are all sadly endangered.
What Rain Looks Like On Other Planets
As interesting as weather on Earth can be, other planets also undergo meteorological events, and they can be quite extreme.
Where Snow Geese Gather In The Winter
Where Snow Geese Gather In The Winter includes New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache, where tens of thousands lift off at dawn, and the bays of the mid-Atlantic.
Why Snakes Crawl Into Car Engines When It Gets Cold
They do get into engine bays, and the usual explanation is wrong. The warmth is incidental and occasionally fatal. What actually draws them in is the mice.
Lyrebird
Lyrebird is famous for mimicking chainsaws and camera shutters, yet its raking feet shift tons of soil a year and can lower the intensity of bushfires.
The Largest Asteroids That Will Pass Earth This Century
Certain asteroids, were they to hit Earth, would potentially cause an extinction event. These are the largest we expect to pass near Earth this century.
How Far Grizzlies Have Spread Beyond Yellowstone
How Far Grizzlies Have Spread Beyond Yellowstone depends on direction, as the Yellowstone range shrinks while northern bears push south to close the gap.
Why Snakes Come Back Out During A Warm Spell In November
Snakes come back out during a November warm spell because they brumate rather than hibernate, emerging to bask whenever a sunny day warms them enough to move.
Nile Perch
Nile Perch can grow longer than a person is tall, a silver African giant that became both a fishing fortune and an ecological disaster in Lake Victoria.
What Happens If An Astronaut Gets Sick In Space
There is no emergency room 250 miles above Earth. Astronauts rely on trained crewmates, doctors on the ground, and sometimes an early ride home.
Why Squirrels Forget Where They Bury Their Nuts
Why Squirrels Forget Where They Bury Their Nuts is the wrong question, as squirrels map, sort, and even fake-bury nuts, and lost acorns plant new oaks.
Why Moose Lose Their Antlers Every Winter
Why Moose Lose Their Antlers Every Winter comes down to a falling hormone, as testosterone drops after the rut and the bone holding each antler dissolves.
How Far Up The Mississippi Bull Sharks Have Been Found
An 84-pound bull shark caught at Alton, Illinois, in 1937 is the farthest confirmed in the Mississippi, and a second turned up near Festus, Missouri, in 1995.
Why Native Freshwater Turtles Are So Rare In The Southwest
Rare springs and isolated rivers explain why native freshwater turtles survive in only a few pockets of the American Southwest.
How Many Earths Could Fit Inside Jupiter
How Many Earths Could Fit Inside Jupiter? More than a thousand, and this gas giant also holds a storm wider than Earth and a moon bigger than Mercury.
Every Place In America That Averages Over 200 Inches Of Snow
At just 95 feet above sea level, Valdez averages more snow than some mountain stations, showing why America's 200-inch snow zones aren't all peaks.
The Western Edge Of Water Moccasin Country
The Western Edge Of Water Moccasin Country is set by water, not cold, as cottonmouths vanish where permanent creeks end across central Texas and Oklahoma.
What Would Happen If The Moon Disappeared
Our world relies on the Moon for far more than most realize. Here's exactly what would happen if the Moon were to disappear.
How Far North Wild Hogs Have Spread
How Far North Wild Hogs Have Spread reaches northern Fennoscandia, while cold-hardy super pigs that dig snow dens spread across the Canadian prairies.
Philippine Cobra
Philippine Cobra venom can stop a person’s breathing within minutes, and this rice-field snake of the northern Philippines can also spit it at the eyes.
Which Planet Has The Most Extreme Seasons?
Uranus has the most extreme seasons in the solar system, with a sideways tilt, 21-year seasons, and decades of continuous polar darkness.