The Science of Baby-Name Trends
What makes a name suddenly pop—and then die? Social scientists and historians have been puzzling over this for decades.
Where the Small Fish Clean the Bigger Ones
A "cleaner station" is a sort of undersea business, a place where large, often predatory, fish go to have parasites removed.
Richard Prum: How Does Beauty Evolve?
Prum speaks on Darwin’s idea of sexual selection, the importance of arbitrary traits, and why he could never choose a favorite species of bird.
The Biology of Death-Feigning
Some animals, when faced with predators, play dead instead of trying to escape. But for death-feigning to work, a lot of things have to go well.
Paper Nautilus, Octopus of the Open Sea
Why the argonaut, or paper nautilus, may be your new favorite cephalopod.
Can Wildlife Adapt to Heat Waves?
Heatwaves have led to widespread deaths of animals like big-eyed tarsiers and flying foxes. Is there hope for species like this as temperatures rise?
Love, Sex, and Cyanide—The Private Life of a Toxic Butterfly
Heliconian butterflies choose mates with similar wing patterns. Their genes make them do it.
Buzzing In at the “Bee & Bee”
City gardens and hotel rooftops can serve as refuges—and food corridors—for the troubled species.
The Most Abundant Creature You’ve Never Heard Of
Conodonts are actually older than the oldest previously known vertebrates, making them the earliest known “skeletonized” vertebrates in existence.
Why Civilizations End
Scientists studying fallen civilizations suggest that the culprit is overshoot in combination with climate change. What does this mean for our current era?