What do you think something called a hell heron might look like? Herons living today are necky, leggy birds with needle-sharp beaks. You might imagine an infernal version of this creature could also have horns or breathe fire. But in truth, it was a dinosaur with crocodile teeth. At least that’s what scientists have determined
What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Anchor, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals
Oftentimes, the most astounding scientific discoveries are made entirely by accident. It was 3 am one sunshine-filled night in February of 2021, and marine biologist Lilian Boehringer of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany was keeping vigil in the camera room aboard the research vessel Polarstern, watching live images of the Antarctic seafloor roll fire
Simon Millar was leading his team of marine tour guides in a training exercise off the coast of Bermagui in New South Wales, Australia, when they spotted a commotion of splashing, churning water. They quickly realized what they were witnessing was an enormous “megapod” of humpback whales. Millar and his crew watched the whales circle
Kristine Grayson is an associate professor of biology at the University of Richmond. This story was originally featured on The Conversation. The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a deceptively attractive metallic-green adult beetle with a red abdomen. But few people ever actually see the insect itself – just the trail of destruction it leaves behind under
Excerpted from The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward. Copyright © 2022. Available from Basic Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The leopard seal and a whole host of other large marine predators are drawn to the Southern Ocean to hunt. Whether directly or indirectly, what supports these animals is krill, small but superabundant
When humans listen to music, we hear a beat. It’s so self-evident, and so foundational to our lives, that it’s hard to imagine how rare that experience is in the animal kingdom. Because here’s the thing: a beat isn’t necessarily a tangible part of music, but a property of human experience, says Andrea Ravignani, who
Bald and golden eagles across North America are in danger from lead poisoning, a new analysis suggests. Researchers tracked levels of the deadly metal in more than 1,000 eagles from 38 US states, and found that “unexpectedly high” proportions of birds from the two species suffered from both chronic and recent poisoning. Almost half of
Bees are essentially vegetarian wasps. Around a hundred million years ago, we know, the common ancestor of all modern bees was a hunter. But over the last 80 million years, bees have become vegetarians. Most get everything they need from flowers: They sip nectar to make honey, lick up floral oils, and pack protein-rich pollen
Raising a child often takes some serious preparation. Future parents may have learned how to change a diaper during home economics or how to quell a baby’s screech with tips from their own mothers. In fact, parenting, much like cooking or writing, is a skill that can be taught or learned. Until recently, researchers didn’t
