My family usually travels a lot, but the pandemic postponed a trip to Alaska with my in-laws by a couple of years. At the end of May, we finally made it! After a long flight (after an even longer layover
Surfing electrons create the northern lights
The flickering glow of the northern and southern lights is known around the world. They occur when electrons from the sun’s solar wind run into Earth’s magnetic field. But in order to build up enough energy to release light, those
Big yawns mean big brains
Y-a-w-n! Ever wonder why we stretch our mouths wide open now and again in a big yawn? Do we do it because we’re tired? Or maybe bored? Scientists recently discovered that the bigger an animal’s brain, the longer the yawn.
This sea slug lost its head!
You may have heard the phrase to lose your head, which means you’re not acting very sensibly. But this sea slug takes that saying to a whole new level. It quite literally separates its head from its body, then grows
Disappearing waterfall
The tallest waterfall in the South American country of Ecuador recently disappeared! The 500-foot-fall San Rafael Waterfall used to send thousands of gallons of water gushing over the rocky drop. But in early February, it seemed to dry up. Curiously,
Dancing peacock spiders
A 22-year-old researcher in Australia just discovered 12 new species of spider, seven of which are colorful peacock spiders. Not only are peacock spiders beautiful (their name reflects their colorfully patterned abdomens), but they are also exceptional dancers. Males wave
Zap! Newly discovered electric eel generates some serious current
Scientists recently discovered that there are not one (as they had thought), not two, but three different species of electric eel. And one of the new discoveries packs the biggest punch of all. These eels send out pulses of electricity
Listen to millions of monarchs
What sound does a butterfly make? With it’s delicate wings, not a whole lot–until you get millions of them together in one place. Most monarchs migrate to Mexico for the winter. There, they huddle in trees at night and flit
Slingshot spider
You thought cheetahs were fast? Meet the slingshot spider. This resident of the Peruvian rainforest nabs a meal in its web like most spiders. But instead of waiting for the food to come to it, this spider takes its web
Ninja kangaroo rats!
Nature is awesome, and so are the scientists who study it. Researchers studying rattlesnakes and kangaroo rats (common predator and prey) needed to be able to see what happened during those lightning-quick interactions. To do so, they used high-speed video,