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Tag Archives: animal behavior

Here comes Swarmageddon!

By Sid Perkins / May 12, 2013

Two adult cicadas size each other up on a wooden railing. Credit: rbmiles/iStockphoto

This spring and summer, trillions of cicadas will emerge in the eastern United States

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, brood, Brood II, Bug Appétit, Cicada-licious, cicadas, College Park; John Cooley, entomologist, entomophagy, evolutionary biologist, feature, Insectarium, Janet Raloff, Michael Raupp, parasites, periodical cicadas, topstories, University of Connecticut in Storrs; nymphs, University of Maryland

Motion in the ocean

By Stephen Ornes / May 3, 2013

Scientists say pulsing corals make their motion to bring in needed nutrients. Credit: M. Kremien et al/PNAS 2013

Scientists figure out why pulsing corals pulse

Posted in Animals | Tagged algae, animal behavior, Australian Institute of Marine Science, coral reef, corals, getinvolved, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Katharina Fabricius, marine ecology, Maya Kremien, nutrition, photosynthesis, reef ecology, xeniid

When one question leads to another

By Susan Gaidos / April 7, 2013

Student Erika DeBenedictis spent years studying the so-called interplanetary superhighway. Her persistence paid off: In 2010, Erika placed first in the Intel Science Talent Search for her research. Credit: Martin Lo, Caltech

Young scientists find advantages to pursuing related problems — sometimes for years on end

Posted in Teaching Science, Young Scientists | Tagged American Sign Language, animal behavior, Anirudh Jain, antibiotic, audio speakers, bacteria, biocide, Brazil nut effect, Broadcom MASTERS, California Institute of Technology, Caltech, drinking water, Elizabeth Baker, Erika DeBenedictis, feature, gibbon, gorilla, Harvard, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Intel Science Talent Search, Intel STS, ISEF, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, John Sheppard, JPL, Kartik Sameer Madiraju, Koko, lagrange points, low frequency sound, McGill University, Meredith MacGregor, microbial fuel cells, nano silver, nanoparticles, Nanosilver, nanotechnology, NASA, nuclear fusion, observational study, science fair, Science project, scientific method, silver, space navigation, spacecraft, topstories, University of North Carolina

This shrimp packs a punch

By Roberta Kwok / March 27, 2013

Mantis shrimp are related to crabs and lobsters. They come in a gorgeous array of colors. Credit: Roy Caldwell

Researchers learn a lot from mantis shrimp, colorful marine creatures that possess deadly weapons and complex vision

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, Amherst, animal behavior, animal communication, animal physiology, arthropod, Baltimore County, Berkeley, biomaterials, biomimicry, cavitation, crab, crustacean, David Kisailus, exoskeleton, feature, Haptosquilla trispinosa, high-speed video, hydroxyapatite, invertebrates, lobster, mantis shrimp, marine science, materials science, oceanography, photoreceptors, praying mantis, receptors, Riverside, Roy Caldwell, Santa Catalina Island, Sheila Patek, sound, stomatopod, Tom Cronin, topstories, University of California, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, vision

When the nose no longer knows

By Roberta Kwok / December 13, 2012

Clown fish raised in acidified waters don’t respond properly to smells. For example, they swim toward the scent of a predator instead of away from it. Credit: Simon Foale, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Pollution can endanger aquatic animals by damaging their sense of smell

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, behavior, carbon dioxide, clown fish, CO2, copper, Danielle Dixson, dottyback, feature, fish, GABA, Göran Nilsson, James Cook University, Jen McIntyre, Kate de la Haye, Keith Tierney, neurons, nose, Ocean acidification, olfaction, Philip Munday, Plymouth University, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, rockcod, salmon, Schreckstoff, Senses, smell, topstories, University of Alberta, University of Oslo, Washington State University

Cool Jobs: The science of secrets

By Susan Gaidos / October 31, 2012

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee. The chickadee gets its name from its distinctive call. The greater the danger, the more “dees” a chickadee adds to the call’s end. Credit: Christopher N. Templeton

Researchers harness science to encode — and decode — hidden messages

Posted in STEM Careers, Technology & Engineering | Tagged acoustics, Adaptation, Aequorea Victoria, agar, animal behavior, Antibiotics, bacteria, bird of prey, bird song, birdsong, chickadee, Chris Templeton, codes, colors, cool jobs, crime, criminal, cryptography, David Walt, decode, decryption, detective, digital, electronics, encryption, FBI, feature, Federal Bureau of Investigation, fluorescence, fluorescent protein, forensic, global positioning system, GPS, Heather Mahalik, investigator, invisible ink, jellyfish, key, merlin, microbiology, patterns, predator, pygmy owl, raptor, sonogram, topstories, Tufts University, University of Montana, University of St. Andrews, warning calls

Monkeys’ mistake detector

By Roberta Kwok / August 26, 2012

A small part of a macaque’s brain is activated when it sees another monkey making a mistake. Credit: Elisabeth Aardema/iStockphoto

Specific brain cells in macaques respond to fellow animal’s error

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, anthropology, brain, Ellen de Bruijn, error detection, getinvolved, macaques, Masaki Isoda, Matthew Shane, mistakes, monkeys, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, psychology, topstories, University of Leiden

Fear Matters

By Jennifer Cutraro / October 22, 2007

Halloween can scare kids and make them act strange. But animals and ecosystems respond to fear every day of the year.

Posted in Environment & Pollution | Tagged Adaptation, animal behavior, evolution

To Catch a Dragonfly

By Emily Sohn / December 4, 2006

Dragonflies are giving researchers new ways to think about relationships among animals.

Posted in Environment & Pollution | Tagged Adaptation, animal behavior, evolution