Animal Behavior
Why Do Cats Land on Their Feet?
Cats often land feet-first because their vestibular and visual systems detect orientation, then a flexible spine and coordinated limb movements rotate the front and…
Oct 4, 2026 • 13 min readFIELD NOTES
Nature & Wildlife
Explore wildlife, plants, fungi and ecosystems, discovering the adaptations and relationships that connect living things to their environments.
EDITOR’S PICK
How Whales Went From Walking on Land to Living in the Ocean
Whales carry the history of land mammals inside their ears, ankles, spines and genes. Their fossil record documents one of evolution’s most dramatic returns to the sea.
Sep 16, 2026 • 4 min readRead the discovery →LATEST
Latest discoveries
New stories, explanations and research from Nature & Wildlife.
Animal Biology
How Do Fish Breathe Underwater?
Most fish breathe by moving water across gills. Oxygen dissolved in water diffuses through thin gill surfaces into blood, while carbon dioxide diffuses out.…
Oct 4, 2026 • 13 min read
Animal Behavior
Why Do Cats Purr?
Cats use purring in more than one context. Research on the voice box explains how the low sound can form, while communication studies help…
Oct 3, 2026 • 3 min read
Animal Discoveries
How Do Spiders Make Silk?
Spiders make silk proteins in abdominal glands, store them as a concentrated liquid and pull the material through ducts and microscopic spigots on spinnerets.…
Oct 3, 2026 • 12 min read
Animal Behavior
How Do Hummingbirds Hover?
Hummingbirds hover by sweeping their wings back and forth in a flattened figure-eight pattern while rotating them at the shoulder. Unlike most birds, they…
Oct 1, 2026 • 12 min read
Animal Behavior
How Do Fireflies Glow?
Fireflies glow through bioluminescence in specialized abdominal organs. Luciferase activates luciferin using ATP, then oxygen helps create excited oxyluciferin. As that product returns to…
Oct 1, 2026 • 12 min read
Nature & Wildlife
Why Do Leaves Change Colour?
Leaves change colour as deciduous trees prepare for winter. Shorter days help trigger senescence, chlorophyll is dismantled and nutrients are recovered. Yellow and orange…
Oct 1, 2026 • 13 min read
Evolution
How Did Horses Evolve?
Horses did not evolve in a straight line from a tiny ancestor into the modern animal. Their family tree branched repeatedly as climates and…
Oct 1, 2026 • 14 min read
Animal Adaptations
How Do Geckos Walk on Walls?
Many geckos cling without glue or suction cups. Microscopic hairs called setae branch into nanoscale tips that make extremely close contact with a surface.…
Oct 1, 2026 • 14 min read
Ecosystems
Why Some Fungi Glow in the Dark
Light-producing chemistry explains the green glow. Experiments with glowing mushrooms and insect traps help test what that light might do in a forest.
Sep 30, 2026 • 3 min readWORTH KNOWING
Popular & evergreen
Ecosystems
How Trees Lift Water Hundreds of Feet Without a Pump
A continuous hydraulic pathway connects moisture in soil to evaporation from leaves high above the ground.
Sep 21, 2026 • 12 min read
Animal Discoveries
How Electric Eels Generate Powerful Shocks
Thousands of specialized cells fire in sequence, turning ordinary ion gradients into precisely controlled electrical pulses.
Sep 21, 2026 • 14 min read
Animal Behavior
How Crows Recognize Faces and Share Threat Information
Field experiments show that crows can remember particular human faces and that social encounters spread information about danger.
Sep 19, 2026 • 12 min read
Ecosystems
How Coral Reefs Build Islands and Protect Coastlines
Living corals, algae, waves and sediments work across centuries to create reef frameworks, beaches and islands while reducing incoming wave energy.
Sep 18, 2026 • 13 min read