Gardeners often notice that carrots harvested during cool autumn weather taste sweeter than those pulled during the heat of summer. The idea of carrots sweeter after frost has a real …
Every fall, millions of Americans rake, bag, and remove fallen leaves from their yards. Yet beneath those colorful layers, an entire community of insects and other small animals may be …
Most mammals produce offspring from separate eggs, but the nine-banded armadillo follows an extraordinary reproductive pattern. A single fertilized egg normally develops into four genetically identical babies, making armadillo quadruplets …
A climbing vine appears along your fence, wrapping around a tree or spreading across the garden. Before reaching for your pruning shears, identifying the plant could save you from an …
A dry bean may look lifeless, but hidden beneath its protective coat is a tiny plant waiting for the right conditions to grow. Add moisture, warmth, and oxygen, and an …
A small amphibian hops across your garden after a summer rain. Its skin looks bumpy, its body is round, and it disappears beneath a flowerpot. Is it a frog or …
Imagine a fish that swims upright, holds onto underwater plants with its tail, and uses a tiny fin to move through the ocean. Now imagine that the male carries developing …
A dark-winged bird glides just inches above a quiet coastal lagoon. Its wings move in long, graceful beats, but something unusual is happening beneath its head. The bird’s lower bill …
Deep beneath the fallen leaves of North America’s winter forests, a small amphibian survives something that would be fatal to most vertebrates. The wood frog can endure extensive freezing, stop …
As temperatures fall across North America, black-capped chickadees begin relying on an extraordinary survival strategy: hiding food and remembering where to find it. The science of chickadee winter food memory …