Clik here to view.
Winter Is Coming for These Argentine Ant Invaders
Those garden-variety ants in your kitchen are anything but ordinary. Most likely, they’re Argentine ants, recognizable by their telltale straight lines and proficiency at capturing food, like that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What if You Could Put Your Pregnancy on Hold? These Animals Can.
Rose, an Oakland resident, will celebrate her first Mother’s Day this weekend. She’ll probably start with breakfast and a morning swim. She’ll dunk her babies underwater and wrestle them for awhile,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bill Would Require FDA to Evaluate Chemicals in Cosmetics for the First Time...
When you brush your teeth or rub on body lotion, you might assume the products are guaranteed to be safe, and that some government agency oversees that. But no agency does. The long list of ingredients...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These Lizards Have Been Playing Rock-Paper-Scissors for 15 Million Years
Every spring, keen-eyed biologists carrying fishing poles search the rolling hills near Los Banos, about two hours southeast of San Francisco. But they’re not looking for fish. They’re catching...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Endangered Mexican Wolves Debut at SF Zoo
If you ride the Muni Taraval line all the way to its end at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, you might hear a lone wolf’s howl over the crashing surf. You wouldn’t be tripping—it could be one of three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
See the Mind-Blowing Super-Freaky Rainbow Fish from the Twilight Zone
That headline is not from a vintage circus poster—it describes a species of fish at the California Academy of Sciences’ unprecedented aquarium exhibit, Twilight Zone: Deep Reefs Revealed, which opened...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We’re Not Squidding Around – Cephalopod Week Is Sure to Suck You In
What ocean creature has three hearts, a good memory, and can squeeze through a hole the size of its eye? Yep, it’s Cephalopod Week—a week devoted to celebrating the answer to that question, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These Carnivorous Worms Catch Bugs by Mimicking the Night Sky
In 1887, a Maori chief and an English surveyor on New Zealand’s North Island rode a handmade raft through a cave entrance where a local stream disappeared into the darkness. Locals called the place...
View ArticleStudy: Opiate Addiction More Likely After Certain Surgeries
The chance that you’ll get hooked on painkillers after surgery is low — only about five in a thousand people do, according to a new Stanford study. But researchers found that the type of surgery can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cabernet With Cryptococcus? Meet the Fungi and Bacteria Behind Your Wine
Any wine-snob will tell you to sniff before you sip. Each wine has its own aroma, which the connoisseur can describe using more than 100 wine scents, from the delicate, such as violet, to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grizzlies in California? Ad Campaign Aims to ‘Bring Back the Bears’
Advocates for re-establishing grizzly bears in California are taking their case directly to the public. Having been rebuffed by wildlife agencies, the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Warming at Alarming Rate, Lake Tahoe Reflects Rapid Sierra Climate Change
Lake Tahoe is showing some severe impacts from the changing climate. Indicators released Thursday in the annual “State of the Lake” report packed a few surprises, even for scientists. For one thing,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Microfibers: How the Tiny Threads in Our Clothes Are Polluting the Bay
One of the major sources of microplastic pollution in the San Francisco Bay comes from something you might not expect: our laundry. Turns out, our clothes shed thousands of fibers every time they’re...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blue Whale Recovery Signals Improving Ocean Conditions
Twenty six nautical miles outside the Golden Gate, the spindly peaks of the Farallon Islands bobbing in view, the R/V Fulmar research vessel has made space for me to observe how researchers carry out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Real Alien Invasion Is Coming to a Palm Tree Near You
Summer means vacation time, and nothing says, “Welcome to paradise!” quite like a palm tree. From Waikiki to Mar-a-Lago, the trees’ iconic fronds instantly signal luxury, glamor and the good life....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Is the Very Hungry Caterpillar So Dang Hungry?
It’s summer and butterflies are everywhere, fluttering around with their flashy looks. But the truth must come out: Behind every beautiful butterfly is a funny-looking, very determined, caterpillar. In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Know How to Protect Yourself From Lyme Disease on Bay Area Hikes
Northern California has many attractions, but the fact that it’s prime tick habitat isn’t one of them. Adding to the angst surrounding outdoor activities is that tick hotspots are unevenly distributed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Is Why Water Striders Make Terrible Lifeguards
With the drought officially over and the summer heat upon us, people all across California are heading outdoors. For many, that means a day on the river or relaxing by the lake. The wet winter means...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Help Make History: Eclipse Projects for Citizen Scientists
The solar eclipse this month will be our country’s first total eclipse in the age of the Internet. Technologies that are commonplace now, such as smartphones, were nearly unthinkable in 1979, the last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Algae-Poisoned Sea Lions Inundate Marine Mammal Center
Beached Sea lions are turning up on California’s central coast with domoic acid poisoning, an affliction associated with marine algae blooms. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito has admitted 68 sea...
View Article