2+ hour, 47+ min ago   (396+ words) At first glance, this seems like a straightforward question, but here’s the catch: it’s much trickier for us to answer objectively than you might think. As biologist Stuart Blackman points out, it’s entirely possible that, to most animals, we all…...

10+ hour, 21+ min ago   (283+ words) A Japanese study published in 2017 shed light on cats’ ability to recall the “where” and the “what.” The felines in the study demonstrated their knack for remembering where they’d left their food bowls—even after a 15-minute break. That’s right,…...

1+ day, 2+ hour ago   (442+ words) The Futura Team represents the pulse of Futura’s editorial department, bringing together a collective expertise dedicated to the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Rather than the work of a single author, every article published under this signature is the result of…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago   (319+ words) Dinosaurs are endlessly fascinating. After all, we’re talking about a group of animals that dominated the planet for more than 160 million years! Over time, they evolved and diversified into an incredible range of forms—from small, nimble, two-legged predators to…...

2+ day, 2+ hour ago   (288+ words) This mystery prompted the authors to examine the genetic material of 18 cows, sampled in 1992 and 2006, to trace the population’s origins and evolution. With so few founders, you’d expect inbreeding problems or a build-up of harmful mutations (or, conversely, their purging)....

2+ day, 3+ hour ago   (431+ words) We have all been there. You call your cat. It does not move. Or worse, it looks at you, then turns its head away. As if it understands nothing. And yet, behind this apparent indifference, something much more precise may…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago   (358+ words) This method is known as environmental DNA, or eDNA. As animals live and move through the water, they shed tiny fragments of DNA via their skin, mucus, or—you guessed it—their droppings. By collecting and analyzing small samples of…...

3+ day, 4+ hour ago   (390+ words) The discovery is shaking up the way scientists see polar food webs and shines a light on the previously overlooked importance of benthic (seafloor) ecosystems. Rémi Amiraux and his team conducted a painstaking analysis of 881 benthic invertebrate samples, covering a…...

3+ day, 10+ hour ago   (220+ words) Studying mammals that roam the upper reaches of the forest at night is no easy feat. Hidden by thick leaves and only active when darkness falls, animals like kinkajous, olingos, margays, sloths, and silky anteaters count among the least understood…...

3+ day, 22+ hour ago   (533+ words) In the buzzing mosquito clan, some—like your cousin Culex, the common house mosquito—love nothing more than ruining human sleep. But not you. You’re all about daytime action: mornings, or that perfect evening just when people are unwinding with…...