Browsing Category
Nature
610 posts
As grandiose as we might think our civilizations have become, we are but the latest entry in the long chronicle detailing life on Earth. We humans share this planet with fellow organisms whose vast numbers completely tower over our own. We borrowed this planet from its previous inhabitants from eons ago and whose lives were written on the soil-turned-rock on which they were laid to rest. Modern Sciences urges its readers to contemplate our planetary co-inhabitants, both past and present.
Organisms without brains can learn, too – so what does it mean to be a thinking creature?
Shutterstock Thomas White, University of Sydney The brain is an evolutionary marvel. By shifting the control of sensing…
Holes in baby dinosaur bones show how football-sized hatchlings grew to 3-tonne teens
Shutterstock Roger S. Seymour, University of Adelaide Despite their public image as torpid, lumbering creatures, many dinosaurs were…
How the age of mammals could end
When Pangea Ultima forms, conditions on Earth will be too inhospitable for most mammals to survive. Maurus Spescha/Shutterstock…
Why Do Animals Keep Evolving Like Moles?
Moles seem innocuous (and cute, but that’s beside the point), but their body plan keeps popping up in…
We Live In a World of Ants.
A group of ancient wasps decided they’d had enough of flying and lost their wings; what happened next…
Playful whales can use seaweed as a hat – or exfoliant. This “kelping” behaviour is more common than we realised
WA Western Whale Watch Australia, CC BY-NC-ND Olaf Meynecke, Griffith University If you’re a whale, there’s often not…
What’s the carbon footprint of owning pet fish? An expert explains
One of the most popular species of fish found in tropical marine aquariums is the common clownfish (Amphiprion…
Farmed rhinos will soon ‘rewild’ the African savanna
Jason Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University With all the terrible news on climate change, it’s easy to lose track…
What’s Up With That Pterosaur’s Teeth?
Lusognathus almadrava is a new pterosaur whose fossils were discovered in Portugal seem a bit bizarre for the…
As climate change warms rivers, they are running out of breath – and so could the plants and animals they harbor
The Potomac River spills over Great Falls west of Washington, D.C.. Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images…