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The great white shark has surprising dining habits

Scientists are befuddled by where the shark gets most of its food.

Photo by Gerald Schömbs / Unsplash
  • A University of Sydney research team found that the great white shark spends an unexpectedly large amount of time feeding close to the sea bed.
  • The group examined the contents in the stomachs of 40 juvenile white sharks and found the remains of a variety of fish species that typically inhabit the sea floor or are buried in the sand.
  • The scientists hope that the information gained from this research will assist conservation and management efforts for the species.
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oceans ecology animals nature fish marine biology

You’re not going far from home – and neither are the animals you spy out your window

Maybe you've been wondering if you're seeing one persistent squirrel or a rotating cast of characters.

Photo by Toimetaja tõlkebüroo on Unsplash

Watching the wildlife outside your window can boost your mental well-being, and it's something lots of people have been doing a lot more of lately.

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Ecology environment birds nature biosphere animals

Nanosensor can alert a smartphone when plants are stressed

Carbon nanotubes embedded in leaves detect chemical signals that are produced when a plant is damaged.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images
MIT engineers have developed a way to closely track how plants respond to stresses such as injury, infection, and light damage, using sensors made of carbon nanotubes.
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biology agriculture botany ecology environment plants

Lizards develop new chemical language to attract mates in predator-free environments

Researchers decoded the love signals of lizards "spoken" through chemical signals.

Photo Credit: Colin Donihue
  • Scientists discovered that lizards developed novel chemical communication signals when relocated to tiny island groups with no predators.
  • Male lizards began to rapidly produce a new chemical love elixir, not unlike cologne, to call on potential mates.
  • With new technology we're increasingly able to detect and identify the chemicals that make up much of the language of non-human nature.

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biology Chemistry ecology communication nature science smell animals

Flamingos form long-term friendships and "cliques"

These pink feathered folk form complex social networks and are choosy about who they spend their time with, according to a new study.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock
  • A five-year study conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter shows that flamingos are choosy about who they spend their time with.
  • Flamingo friendships are made and maintained long-term due to preference rather than loose, randomly made connections.
  • In 2009, Madison, Wisconsin, named the plastic pink flamingo the city's official bird.
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biology birds conservation ecology nature animals
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