BiologyFebruary 16, 2017
Why Do Dust Mites Seem to Shun the Western U.S.?
A new study fails to find evidence of dust mites in dust samples from most of the west. Are there really none out there?
Stories by Jennifer Frazer
Jennifer Frazer, an AAAS Science Journalism Award–winning science writer, authored The Artful Amoeba blog for Scientific American. She has degrees in biology, plant pathology and science writing.
BiologyFebruary 13, 2017
Inside the U.S.'s Only Ocean Exploration Ship
Okeanos Explorer is like Houston, Cape Canaveral and the space shuttle all rolled into one
Public HealthFebruary 1, 2017
Go West, Allergy Sufferers: Dust Mites Avoid Arid America
But don’t go too far west—the West Coast (like its eastern counterpart) is a mite utopia
BiologyJanuary 26, 2017
Life Is a Highway: Watch Bacteria Riding the Fungal Expressway [Video]
And they ride it all night long
BiologyJanuary 25, 2017
Soil Fungi Serve as Bacterial Highways and Dating Services
Fungi give bacterial evolution a kick in the pants
BiologyDecember 31, 2016
The Gorgeous and Bizarre Dandelion Siphonophore [Video]
An ocean treasure to end the year right
BiologyDecember 29, 2016
Asian Snails Can Club Predators with Their Shells [Video]
Meek mobile home becomes butt-kicking bludgeon
BiologyDecember 25, 2016
A Very Festive and Very Spiny Urchin [Video]
Sea urchin? Or tree topper?
BiologyDecember 23, 2016
Guillotined Acorn Worms Simply Regrow Their Heads [Video]
Studying the worms’ miraculous abilities could one day lead to treatments for dementia, paralysis and amputations
BiologyDecember 14, 2016
A Mysterious Purple Orb at the Bottom of the Ocean [Video]
Odd purple ball stumps scientists observing it
EvolutionDecember 9, 2016
Jaw on the Floor: Entire Chunk of Feathered Dinosaur Discovered in Amber
One-of-a-kind find made in a Myanmar amber market
EvolutionDecember 8, 2016
Shark Cages Invented 80 Million Years before Sharks
An early marine worm built dwellings so strange they could be mistaken for a seaweed
BiologyNovember 11, 2016
Wonderful Things: The Bubblegum Coral and the Whatever [Video]
Even in 2016 scientists can still stumble on large deep-sea creatures that stump them
EvolutionNovember 7, 2016
Leaf Mines Say Southern Hemisphere Recovered Faster from Asteroid
Insect-damaged fossil leaves indicate recovery five million years sooner than the Northern Hemisphere
BiologyOctober 31, 2016
Halloween in the Deep: Eerie Critters [Video]
Get yourself in the mood for scary with some creatures from waaaaay down under
BiologyOctober 30, 2016
Halloween in the Deep: The Creepy Hermit Crab [Video]
If you had an anemone stuck to your butt with a third pair of appendages, you would look creepy, too
EvolutionOctober 29, 2016
Halloween in the Deep: Mud Monsters [Video]
Not all scary deep sea creatures swim. Some lurk on the bottom
BiologyOctober 28, 2016
Halloween in the Deep: The Vampire Squid [Video]
Vampire squid don't suck blood, but they do have some rather magical abilities
BiologyOctober 27, 2016
Halloween in the Deep: The Smaug Octopus [Video]
Tolkien's dragon exists for a moment
BiologyOctober 20, 2016
How the Parachute Flower Commits Fraud [Video]
A flower that smells like fake dying bee scams thieving flies into pollinating it for free
EvolutionOctober 13, 2016
Fish out of Water Are Actually Pretty Common [Video]
Terrestrial behavior has evolved in at least 33 families of living fish
BiologyOctober 4, 2016
Cliff-Dwelling Bees Carve Their Nests Out of Solid Rock
Sandstone-mining bees even tunnel into abandoned pueblos
BiologySeptember 30, 2016
Vast Pile of Plant Skeletons Hides in the Great Barrier Reef
New scans of the structures—termed bioherms—reveal odd nets, rings, and ripples of unknown origin
BiologySeptember 22, 2016
Why Lobster Larvae Harpoon-Proof Their Poo
How do you eat a live jellyfish? Verrrrry carefully