Glittering Tides: Where to Spot Bioluminescence in the Bay Area
Every year during the summer or fall, shore waves across the Bay Area are lit up with flashes of beautiful blue light. This beautiful blue light is caused by millions of tiny bioluminescent plankton...
View ArticleWatch Ferns Get Freaky
Look at the underside of a fern leaf. Those rows of orange clusters aren’t tiny insects; they’re spores waiting to be catapulted away. Once a spore lands, it grows into a tiny plant, from which fern...
View ArticleMeet the Bug You Didn’t Know You Were Eating
The cochineal is a tiny insect deeply rooted in the history of Oaxaca, Mexico. Female cochineals spend most of their lives with their heads buried in juicy cactus pads, eating and growing. After...
View ArticleSick Brown Pelicans Are Turning Up Along the Coast — and We Don’t Know Why
Dozens of malnourished and injured brown pelicans are turning up along the Northern California coastline. Russ Curtis, a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization International Bird Rescue, said the...
View ArticleStingless Bees Guard Tasty Honey With Barricades, Bouncers and Bites
The honeybee that sweetened your tea isn’t the only kind of bee that makes the sweet stuff. More than 600 bee species across Mexico, Central and South America and tropical regions worldwide do too....
View ArticleThese Baby Starfish Are Carnivorous Little Snowflakes
Six-rayed sea stars make great moms! Unlike most sea stars, mama six-rayed sea stars are VERY involved in their kids’ lives, caressing and protecting their babies for months. When they’re big enough,...
View ArticleTar Pits Are a Death Trap. Except for This Fly.
Within the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles, not far from West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, paleontologists are hard at work sorting through one of the richest collections of ice age fossils in the...
View ArticleThis Mite-y Beetle Buries the Dead to Start a Family
Insects called burying beetles haul mouse carcasses down into the dirt and prep them to feed their future offspring. Also known as carrion beetles, they have some stiff competition … and some help from...
View ArticleNew Bay Area Research Reveals the Secret Lives of Sperm Whales
Sightings of sperm whales are rare in Monterey Bay. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t nearby, deep under the surface of the ocean. Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute analyzed a...
View Article5 Creepy Creatures Out to Suck Your Blood
Chances are you’ve got one of these bloodsuckers lurking nearby. Mosquitoes, ticks, lice, kissing bugs and tsetse flies are all looking to grab a bite … of you. See exactly how they do it and what you...
View ArticleWhy Do Sunflowers Face the Sunrise?
To bring all the bees to the yard! These pollinators love warm, bright blooms early in the morning. But how did these plants end up facing east? It turns out they spend their whole life getting in just...
View ArticleThese Bees Hustle to Put Food on the Table
You know honeybees make honey, but did you know they make bread too? And four other types of bees are also dedicated chefs! Alfalfa leafcutting bees take a punch from a flower for your ice cream. Blue...
View ArticleGlowing and Swimming Sea Slugs Newly Discovered in the Deep Sea
Monterey Bay researchers have discovered a remarkable new species of sea slug that lives in the deep sea. The glowing nudibranch swims through the ocean’s midnight zone with a large gelatinous hood and...
View ArticleLacewing Love Is Noisier Than You Think
Lacewings have babies that are prized as pest control. But before they can mate, they have to vibrate their bodies and sing to each other, making noises like purring cats or growling stomachs....
View ArticleBeware of Flesh-Eating Sand Piranhas at the Beach
Known as sand piranhas, Excirolana chiltoni are tiny crustaceans that nibble at your feet – and draw blood – if you hang out on the wet sand at the beach. They live on the Pacific coast of the U.S. and...
View ArticleWant a Cozy, Free Home? Ask This Caterpillar How
As a caterpillar, a grass skipper butterfly is an architect. It builds its home by weaving skeins of silk, which the caterpillar uses to fold shut a blade of grass. After growing up inside this “grass...
View Article4 of the Deadliest Tiny Hunters We’ve Ever Filmed
Watch turret spiders, wormlions, assassin bugs and dragonfly babies use stealth, speed and lethal weapons to dispatch their prey. TRANSCRIPT No one said life in the wild would be easy. Yikes! These...
View ArticleMonarch Butterflies Are on the Decline in California. Here’s Why
California’s iconic monarch butterfly population saw a sharp decline this year, which biologists attribute to the hot summer and fall temperatures across the state affecting the species’ migratory...
View Article4 Tiny Romances That Are Almost Too Freaky to Share
Praying mantises, barnacles, newts and earthworms have some of the strangest love lives. TRANSCRIPT We get it, dating is hard. From meeting the right special someone, to getting to know them, to...
View ArticleThis Weevil Was Born in Your Rice and It’s Hungry
While it has a cute snoot, a rice weevil is a stowaway. It sneaks into your pantry as an egg that its mom laid inside a single grain of rice. Once it hatches, it turns your rice into its new home....
View ArticleWhere to See Wildflowers Near You in the Bay Area
Each spring, the Bay Area’s rolling hills and coastal landscapes burst into color as wildflowers blanket the terrain. From the iconic California poppy to the delicate shooting star, these blooms are...
View Article5 of the Grossest House Pests We’ve Ever Filmed
We hope your spring cleaning doesn’t uncover bed bugs, dust mites, termites, drain flies or cockroaches. TRANSCRIPT Dread them. Run from them. But that won’t stop these unwelcome house guests from...
View ArticleThis Jumping Spider Trains Itself to Kill
Regal jumping spiders train themselves from a young age to become masterful hunters. From the day they leave mom’s silk nest, the tiny spiderlings practice, practice, practice, using some of the best...
View ArticleSpider Love Is a Battlefield
In order to mate, a male long-jawed orb weaver spider has to hook his huge jaws into those of a larger female. If he doesn’t get it right, he could become her next meal. TRANSCRIPT These spiders aren’t...
View ArticleEvaluation of Traumatic Brain Injuries Gets Its First Overhaul in 50 Years
Updated 1:40 p.m. Thursday For the first time in over 50 years, emergency room doctors will have a new framework to assess people with head injuries from car or bike crashes, falls and assaults....
View ArticleWhy Mosquitoes Buzz in Your Ear
The mosquito buzzing that you find annoying and disgusting is irresistible to a male mosquito. He follows the sound of a female mosquito’s beating wings to find a mate. It turns out, male mosquitoes...
View ArticleClothes Moths Got Your Sweater? There’s a Wasp for That
Once clothes moth larvae start eating your favorite garments, they’re tough to get rid of. Tiny parasitoid wasps are here to help – they lay their eggs inside the moth’s eggs so you can say bye-bye to...
View ArticleThe 4 Most Ruthless Ants We’ve Ever Filmed
Fire ants bite and sting! They also use their own young to build a terrifying raft during floods. Kidnapper ants steal other ants’ babies. Honeypot ants turn their sisters into living jugs of nectar....
View ArticleBeach Day? These 5 Surprising Creatures Are Hanging Out Too
Do you really know who you’re sharing the beach with? Purple sand dollars gobble bits of metal to stay grounded in turbulent waters. Mole crabs move sand like a conveyor belt. Hardworking bees sculpt...
View ArticleTiger Beetles Bite First, Ask Questions Never
Tiger beetles are lightning-fast hunters, sprinting so quickly they momentarily outrun their own vision. Watch how these tiny but ferocious predators use blistering speed to chase down prey and finish...
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