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Coming Soon to A Planet Near You: Live High Definition Video From Mars
Nothing conveys the excitement of space exploration like pictures from another planet. Now NASA is planning to go one better than pictures. The space agency is aiming to launch a probe carrying a...
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How Ticks Dig In With a Mouth Full of Hooks
Spring is here. Unfortunately for hikers and picnickers out enjoying the warmer weather, the new season is prime time for ticks, which can transmit bacteria that cause Lyme disease. How they latch on —...
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The Mystery of the Upside-Down Catfish
Normally, an upside-down fish in your tank is bad news. As in, it’s time for a new goldfish. That’s because most fish have an internal air sac called a swim bladder that allows them to control their...
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Why Do Tumbleweeds Tumble?
Tumbleweeds might be the iconic props of classic Westerns. But in real life, they’re not only a noxious weed, but one that moves around. As they roll and bounce, pushed by gusts of wind, they can...
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You’ve Heard of a Murder of Crows. How About a Crow Funeral?
It’s a common sight in many parks and backyards: Crows squawking. But groups of the noisy black birds may not just be raising a fuss, scientists say. They might be holding a funeral. Kaeli Swift, a...
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Watch These Cunning Snails Stab and Swallow Fish Whole
It might be time to rethink the phrase “moving at a snail’s pace.” New research shows that cone snails — ocean-dwelling mollusks known for their brightly colored shells — attack their prey faster than...
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You’d Never Guess What an Acorn Woodpecker Eats
Have you ever wondered why woodpeckers pound so incessantly? In the case of acorn woodpeckers — gregarious black-and-red birds in California’s oak forests — they’re building an intricate pantry, a...
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What Do Earwigs Do With Those Pincers Anyway?
When you walk through a park, go for a hike or take a trip to the zoo, most of the animals and plants you see appear symmetric. Whether it’s an oak leaf or an elk’s antlers, the right and left sides...
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How Elephants Listen … With Their Feet
Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell has been a regular at the same watering hole for more than 25 years. Most of the other patrons are elephants. This summer marks the Stanford researcher’s 26th visit to...
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Watch This Bee Build Her Bee-jeweled Nest
A new type of bee is buzzing through California’s orchards. And researchers are hoping that the iridescent, greenish insect may help provide a more efficient way to pollinate nuts and fruits in an era...
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This Adorable Sea Slug Is a Sneaky Little Thief
The summer months bring low morning tides along the California coast, providing an opportunity to see one of the state’s most unusual inhabitants, sea slugs. Also called nudibranchs, many of these...
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How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute
Every year, hundreds of thousands of kittens end up in animal shelters, in need of permanent homes. A 5-week-old kitten plays at a shelter run by the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA in Burlingame,...
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The House Centipede Is Fast, Furious and Hella Leggy
As California enters the winter rainy season, at least one transplant won’t be disappointed to see a change in the weather. West Coast rain is just fine for the house centipede, a guest from the...
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A Sand Dollar’s Breakfast Is Totally Metal
Pristine white sand dollars have long been the souvenir to commemorate a successful day at the beach. But most people who pick them up don’t realize that they’ve collected the skeleton of an animal,...
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Want a Whole New Body? Ask This Flatworm How
Nelson Hall wants you to know that the googly-eyed flatworm he just sliced into four pieces is going to be OK. In fact, it’s going to be great. Three of the flatworm’s four pieces have started to...
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Whack! Jab! Crack! It’s a Blackback Land Crab Smackdown
Last month, as much of Colorado was enduring a snowstorm, hundreds of crabs in Fort Collins were enjoying more pleasant conditions: 75-degree heat with 80 percent humidity. In the “Crab Lab” at...
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Turret Spiders Launch Sneak Attacks From Tiny Towers
Most Bay Area hikers pass right by without ever noticing, but a careful eye can spot tiny towers rising up from the forest floor. These mysterious little tubes, barely an inch high, are the homes of a...
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Jerusalem Crickets Only Date Drummers
Potato Bug. Child of the Earth. Old Bald-Headed Man. Skull Insects. Devil’s Baby. Spawn of Satan. There’s a fairly long list of imaginative nicknames that refer to Jerusalem crickets, those six-legged...
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How Your Dog’s Nose Knows So Much
On a sunny day near Martinez, California, a friendly-looking German shepherd named Zinka rushes down the crisscrossing trails of Briones Regional Park wearing a vest covered in sensors, batteries and...
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Samurai Wasps Say ‘Smell Ya Later, Stink Bugs’
Colonies of brown marmorated stink bugs reared at Oregon State University. (Jenny Oh/KQED) It looks rather harmless at first glance. With a speckled exterior and a shieldlike shape, the brown...
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