Science & Nature
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.
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.
Where Coral Snakes Live In The United States
Where Coral Snakes Live In The United States spans the sandy Southeast, eastern Texas, and the Arizona desert, home to three shy but venomous species.
Papuan Taipan
Papuan Taipan venom ranks among the most toxic of any land snake, and this fast hunter of southern New Guinea can strike several times in quick succession.
The American Town Where Wi-Fi Is Banned For Radio Astronomy
These days, prioritizing anything beyond wi-fi service is rare. But in one American town, radio astronomy takes precedence.
Why Coyotes Are Showing Up In Big Cities
Why Coyotes Are Showing Up In Big Cities comes down to food, cover, and safety, which help thousands of coyotes thrive in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Okinawa Habu
Okinawa Habu is a large, night-hunting pit viper of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, steeped in local liquor and lore, and the nickname of a Cold War spy plane.
Which Moon Rains Methane?
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has methane rain, rivers, and seas. Learn how its weather cycle mirrors Earth's and what Cassini and Huygens revealed.
How Far North Tarantulas Live
How Far North Tarantulas Live. Long winters stop these slow-growing spiders in southern Colorado and Spain, not at the Missouri River as folklore claims.
Northern Snakehead
Northern Snakehead can breathe air and wriggle across wet ground, a toughness that made this Asian food fish an invasive “Frankenfish” in the Potomac River.
Why Mercury Has Ice Even Though It’s Closest To The Sun
Mercury reaches 800°F by day, yet water ice survives in permanently shadowed craters near its poles, as NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft confirmed from orbit.
Where Rattlesnakes Go In The Winter
Where Rattlesnakes Go In The Winter is underground, into rocky dens below the frost line, where related snakes return year after year to wait out the cold.
Goonch Catfish
Goonch Catfish can outweigh a grown man, ambushing prey in the fast Himalayan rivers of India and Nepal, a legend made famous by River Monsters.
How Many Moons Are In The Solar System
Saturn has more known moons than every other planet combined. A planet-by-planet look at the solar system's moon count and why the total is still rising.