Scientists have discovered the first species of praying mantis known to conspicuously mimic a wasp. The wasp was near the Amazon River in Peru in 2013. Read more... October 18, 2019

The American Chemical Society has released a new video that provides instructions for making magnetic slime. The ACS even suggests skipping work in order to make it. The video is part of the PBS series, Reactions. Read more... October 14, 2019

Mold pigs were tiny invertebrates that inhabited Earth about 30 million years ago. They were discovered in fossils preserved in Dominican amber. They are a newly discovered family, genus and species of microinvertebrate. Read more... October 8, 2019

NASA has released new visualizations of a black hole to illustrate how its gravity warps its surroundings and distorts our view. The extreme gravity of the black hole skews light emissions and results in the its misshapen appearance. Read more... September 27, 2019

A new research study suggests mosasaurs used a muscular breast stroke that gave them an extra burst of speed. This speed may have been used when ambushing prey. Mosasaurs were huge late Cretaceous sea creatures that were also equipped with two rows of sharp teeth that could shred their victims apart. Read more... September 23, 2019

A newly identified species of pterosaur was one of the largest ever flying animals. The pterosaur, named Cryodrakon boreas, had a wingspan of up to 10 meters (about 33 feet). It lived during the Cretaceous period around 77 million years ago. Read more... September 10, 2019

The Schomburgk's deer (Rucervus schomburgki) was believed to be extinct in 1938. However, recent analysis of a photograph of fresh antlers from 1991 suggests the deer did not go extinct and may still be alive today. Read more... September 6, 2019

Scientists have identified a new species of duck-billed dinosaur. The fossils of the dinosaur were found in 72-million year-old marine deposits in northern Japan. The species has been named Kamuysaurus japonicus. It is nicknamed "Mukawaryu" after the excavation site. Read more... September 5, 2019

Harrvard researchers created a self-folding soft robot they call Rollbot. The researchers used origami concepts and 3D-printed soft hinges that fold at different temperatures. This way the hinges can be programmed to fold in a specific order. Read more... August 21, 2019

Scientists have discovered two new species of tweezer-beaked hopping rats in the Philippines. The scientists say the rats hop around like little kangaroos. Worms are the preferred diet of the new species named Rhynchomys labo and Rhynchomys mingan. Read more... August 20, 2019

Bats have an amazing acoustic hunting ability through echolocation. Scientists have found that leaf-nosed bats can find insects resting silently on leaves in the dark using echolocation alone. Read more... August 18, 2019

Spiders are known for being hunters and meat-eaters but there is one species that prefers a vegetarian diet. Bagheera kiplingi is a jumping spider species from Central America and southern Mexico that feeds predominantly on plant food. Read more... August 17, 2019

Scientists have discovered fossils of a monster penguin species that once inhabited New Zealand during the Paleocene Epoch (between 66 and 56 million years ago). The fossils were found in Waipara, North Canterbury. The new follows the recent discovery of an extinct giant parrot in New Zealand. Read more... August 16, 2019

Researchers have determined that some grey squirrels have black fur because of interbreeding and a faulty pigment gene. Black squirrels are the same species as grey squirrels. The only difference between them is the color of their fur. Read more... August 16, 2019

Australasian paleontologists discovered the fossil of an extinct giant parrot that once inhabited New Zealand. The bird stood up to 1 meter (3.2 feet) tall. It weighed about 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds). It has been named Heracles inexpectatus. Read more... August 8, 2019

Near-perfect symmetry in a spiral galaxy is revealed in this Hubble image of NGC 2985. The galaxy is located over 70 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. Read more... August 2, 2019

You probably can't squash this cockroach-inspired robot because it is so flat. The robot created by University of California, Berkeley researchers can also move at nearly the speed of a darting cockroach. Read more... August 1, 2019

A new study has revealed that baby jumping spiders can see nearly as well as their much larger parents. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Cincinnati. Read more... August 1, 2019

The above image shows a specimen of permeable concrete. Researchers from Rutgers found increased use of this type of pavement could help reduce the urban heat island effect. Read more... August 1, 2019

Rats are being tickled for science. The most recent research was a study that found rats can learn to associate an odor with being tickled. A previous study found that rats appear to enjoy being tickled by a human hand so the odor is being associated with a positive experience. Read more... July 31, 2019