When the garbage truck drives up to my house every week, my three little dogs can barely contain their excitement. They bark and race from one window to the next. At one point, my chihuahua mix will throw back her head and release a dramatic howl.It seems ridiculous to howl at a garbage collector. However, animal behavior researchers have learned howling is a vital form of communication among wolf packs. This behavior lingers among some domesticated dogs, and scientists are learning that dogs ho ...read more
Prehistoric reptiles roamed every corner of the Earth millions of years ago — including the depths of the ocean to streams and rivers. While commonly referred to as aquatic or marine dinosaurs — or reptiles — many of these creatures also spent a significant amount of time out of the water. Some prehistoric marine reptiles came to the surface to breathe or returned to land to lay their eggs. Here are five of the most interesting aquatic reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs. ...read more
How is it that a fly always seems to be buzzing around your food moments after you sit down for an outdoor meal?The answer is practice. Or, more specifically: evolution. Flies and other insects have been on a multimillion-year journey of evolution, honing their ability to detect food. Being able to zero in on nutritious meals is a matter of life and death.The family of flies that I study – the blow flies – are the buzzing ones that are usually a beautiful metallic blue, with bronze and gre ...read more
By NASA’s current estimates, it would take around 2 to 3 years to get to Mars, and that’s on a good day when its orbit comes closest to Earth. And once you get there, it’s not exactly an Eden away from home. Rather, it’s an arid Martian desert with temperatures reaching -81 degrees Fahrenheit regularly.It’s not habitable without spacesuits and a completely enclosed environment because Mars’ air is about 95 percent carbon dioxide. There’s also no liquid water found on its surfac ...read more
Pterosaurs are often referenced as “flying dinosaurs,” though they’re just flying reptiles — cousins to dinosaurs. From the late Triassic period to the end of the Cretaceous period, Petrosaurs dominated the sky. They could be as large as fighter jets and as small as toy planes. Here are five of the most fascinating flying reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs. 1. Pterodactylus(Credit: Elenarts/Shutterstock) Pterodactylus was the first pterosaur to be recognized as a flying reptile. ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine