The axolotl has feathery frills and a soft smile. Lots of people love these cute salamanders. Indeed, many serve as household pets and research subjects. But in their home range,…

Columbus, Ohio — Today’s menu special: giant water bugs (Lethocerus indicus). Some may balk at eating insects. But these meaty big boys — one of the biggest members of the…

Writing and art from ancient Rome are full of battles between armed performers and big cats like lions and tigers. Roman records also tell grisly tales of those creatures killing…

Salto the robot is acting a bit squirrelly. It can take a flying leap and land on a narrow pipe, just like a squirrel soaring from branch to branch. It’s…

A severed ant head. A fly wing. A beetle abdomen. These body parts ripped from dead insects adorn a caterpillar’s protective coat. That’s why scientists are calling this newfound species…

Chiral (adjective, “KY-rul”) A chiral molecule is one that comes in a left- and right-handed form. If a molecule is chiral, it cannot be placed over its mirror image in…

A never-ending, X-ray explosion coming from a dead star has posed a mystery — until now. This steady radiation appears to come from scorching-hot wreckage left behind by the annihilation of a…

Animals have long been a big part of science. Frogs helped researchers discover how cells communicate. Pig studies helped pave the way to the CT scan, a now common diagnostic…

Sharks have a reputation for being silent predators. But an accidental discovery shows the small rig shark isn’t silent after all. It clicks its short, wide teeth. That chatter appears…

Columbus, Ohio — Bananas grow best in full sun. To protect their sensitive skins from damaging ultraviolet rays, banana peels produce a natural sunscreen. A teen has now peeled back…