How Does a Separated Feather Zip Back Together?
Discover how microscopic hooks let a feather vane reconnect, why birds preen, and why reattachment is different from healing broken material.
Animals
Animal ecology, behavior, and characteristics
How Do Water Striders Stay Afloat and Move Forward?
Support and propulsion are different questions. Explore surface dimples, microscopic leg hairs and subsurface vortices to understand a water strider’s movement.
How a Python Rebuilds Its Organs to Digest a Meal the Size of Its Own Body
After months of fasting, a python swallows prey as heavy as itself. Within days its intestines swell to 300% of normal and metabolism spikes up… Read More »How a Python Rebuilds Its Organs to Digest a Meal the Size of Its Own Body
How Do Jumping Spiders Judge Distance from a Blurred Image?
A jumping spider’s lens and layered retina produce defocus cues that can help it judge distance. Explore the behavioral evidence and the questions that remain.
Hot Muscle in Cold Water: The Great White Shark’s Regional Endothermy
The great white shark is often called “warm-blooded,” but more precisely it is a regionally endothermic (mesothermic) animal that warms only specific parts of its… Read More »Hot Muscle in Cold Water: The Great White Shark’s Regional Endothermy
The Real Reason the Ocean Sunfish Lies on the Waves Like It’s Dead: Rewarming After the Hunt
The ocean sunfish floats on its side on the waves as if dead. But it’s actually diving into the deep sea several times a day… Read More »The Real Reason the Ocean Sunfish Lies on the Waves Like It’s Dead: Rewarming After the Hunt