Animals

This hi-tech buoy can detect whales and prevent large ships from colliding with them

4:51pm September 23, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Professor Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, about a new technology that protects whales from colliding with large shipping vessels.

Monkey thieves, drunk elephants — Mary Roach reveals a weird world of animal 'crime'

1:25pm September 23, 2022

by Dave Davies

Roach researched animal misbehaviors for her book, Fuzz. She says animals tend to ignore the rules we try to impose on them — and they often have the last laugh. Originally broadcast Sept. 14, 2021.

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This image from a video shows rescuers in shallow waters with whales near Strahan, Australia, on Thursday.

World News

32 pilot whales have been rescued out of 230 stranded in Tasmania

12:57pm September 22, 2022

by The Associated Press

The whales were found stranded on the remote west coast of Australia's island state of Tasmania. A marine biologist said the dead animals would be tested for toxins that might explain the disaster.

Sean Murphy, lead author of a new malaria vaccine study, demonstrates how participants got their dose: by placing an arm over a mesh-covered container filled with 200 mosquitoes whose bites delivered genetically modified malaria parasites.

A box of 200 mosquitoes did the vaccinating in this malaria trial. That's not a joke!

4:59pm September 21, 2022

by Max Barnhart

Volunteers for the trial put an arm over a box with hundreds of mosquitoes carrying a genetically modified malaria parasite. Here's why they did it that way — and why the trial holds promise.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, yellow crazy ants are seen in a bait testing efficacy trial at the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in December, 2015. An invasive species known as the yellow crazy ant has been eradicated from the remote U.S. atoll in the Pacific.

Environment

The number of ants on Earth has a mass greater than all birds and mammals combined

12:51pm September 21, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Researchers compiled hundreds of studies of tree-dwelling and ground-dwelling ants to make their estimate of 2.5 million ants for every human.

This photo released by Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, shows whales stranded on Ocean Beach on the west coast of Tasmania of Australia, Sept. 21, 2022.

Environment

Rescue efforts are beginning in Tasmania to save more than 200 beached whales

2:31am September 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

A stranded whale pod on Tasmania's west coast appears to be pilot whales and at least half are presumed to still be alive, local government officials said Wednesday.

One of 14 dead sperm whales lies washed up on a beach at King Island, north of Tasmania, Australia, on Tuesday.

World News

14 young sperm whales are found dead, beached on an Australian island

12:35pm September 20, 2022

by The Associated Press

Australian wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of the whales, which were discovered Monday on Tasmania's King Island, off the southeastern coast.

Staff and volunteers load a camel into a vehicle to be evacuated from Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 4. The zoo has been shelled repeatedly during the Russian invasion. At least five staff or volunteers were killed and nearly 100 animals at the zoo died as of April.

World News

War takes a heavy toll on animals too. See how people in Ukraine strive to save them

8:42am September 20, 2022

Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced. Four-legged Ukrainians are also suffering, but there are groups working to help the animals.

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Scientists estimated how many ants are on the Earth and you don't want to know the answer

6:58am September 20, 2022

Researchers estimate there are twenty quadrillion ants worldwide, and if you gathered them all and put them on a scale, they'd weigh more than all of the wild birds and mammals on the planet.

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A Colorado woman is reunited with her dog that ran away after a car crash

7:23am September 15, 2022

The lost golden retriever was her late husband's comfort dog as he battled Stage 4 cancer. After her searches failed, police used a drone — finding the dog within minutes after the drone launched.

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