March 22, 2018 Smoke-breathing elephant caught on camera Incredible footage of an elephant picking up ash with its trunk and breathing smoke has been captured, stunning onlookers and experts.
March 22, 2018 Winged wonders: the exotic birds of Africa Bird lovers from all corners of the globe flock to Africa for the vast numbers of unique and remarkable species found throughout the continent.
March 22, 2018 Here's why cockroaches can survive just about anything The genome of the American cockroach has been sequenced for the first time, revealing why these creepy-crawlies are such tenacious survivors.
March 22, 2018 They decided to track 19 elephants, and discovered something macabre Poaching elephants for their ivory has already devastated populations, but poaching the animals for their skin could be disastrous, according to a new study detailing the "heartbreaking" practice in Myanmar.
March 21, 2018 5 trips to take to make your own actual Shark Week It’s Shark Week and for the country’s most adventure-prone people that means one thing, actual shark diving.
March 21, 2018 4 up-close encounters with sea creatures Sharks and whales and manatees—oh my! For a kid fascinated by marine life, there’s nothing more exciting than interacting with a finned friend in its natural habitat. Got a water baby in your family? Here are four encounters that let you get up-close and personal with some not-so-scary sea creatures.
March 21, 2018 Top destinations for science geeks Lovers of science, listen up: If you’re tired with the same hum-drum science museums filled with dusty models of the planets and boring films of volcanos on a continuous loop, there are a host of amazing places were you can see –up close --wondrous natural and scientific discoveries sure to spark the Einstein in you. Quench your thirst for all things scientific with a trip to one (or all) of these fascinating and noteworthy destinations.
March 21, 2018 Amazing places to swim with sharks Nothing sends ocean swimmers fleeing for shore faster than a fin sighting. The word shark alone is enough to scare most people, immediately calling to mind the menacing theme song for the movie "Jaws"—and, of course, all the gruesome attack scenes therein. But some people look past the sensationalism and all those razor-sharp teeth (up to 15 rows of them) to see sharks for what they really are—streamlined, beautiful animals that are fantastically adapted to their environment. (There’s a reason they’ve been around for 64 million years.) For those brave souls, the thrill of floating alongside these big fish far outweighs the fright. And in truth, many sharks pose a bigger threat to plankton than to surfers or other fish—though swimming alongside them still lends plenty of bragging rights. In order to do it, you’ll need a boat (in most cases, anyway) and local knowledge to find the fish. The surest bet is to hire a local guide service or naturalist who can take you out, outfit you with snorkels or dive gear, and—perhaps most important—let you know how close is too close. We scoured the globe to come up with some great guide services that offer you a glimpse inside the watery world of the oceans’ most-feared fish. They’ll take you on daylong dive and snorkeling charters, set you up on a live-aboard yacht for extended, all-inclusive trips, and even load you into a deep-sea submersible to get a Cousteau-style look at some seriously creepy (and rare) creatures. That underscores another fascinating fact about sharks—more than the much-maligned Great White, there are 470 species of sharks prowling the world's oceans. There are bus-sized, plankton-eating whale sharks that you can snorkel up to and touch; little lemon sharks that you can lift out of the water (literally, but we don't recommend it…their "nibbles" can cause serious injury); streamlined makos that blast through the water at upwards of 25 mph; bottom-dwelling nurse sharks who are sort of like catfish of the sea; and, yes, 5,000-pound apex predators called Great Whites. It’s up to you what shark you want to see, and how close you want to get. Some you can reach out and touch, others are best kept on the other side of a thick steel cage. With that in mind, here are the best places in the world to get nose-to-snout with sharks.
March 20, 2018 6 things you might not know about bees Many of us, when we think about bees, probably think about their stings, how they pollinate flowers, and how bumblebees seem too fat to be able to fly. But there are a few unusual tidbits about our buzzing friends that you may not know about.
March 20, 2018 Top 10 fastest land animals The list of the top 10 fastest land animals has a new entry, and it's in the number one spot, according to a recent study.
