Monday, April 10, 2023

Animal comics

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4/10/23

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Inside Science News Explores

If you’ve ever wondered how pandas avoid predators with such dramatic black-and-white patterns or how boa constrictors squeeze prey to death without choking themselves, then our Wild Things comic series is for you. These cartoons blend new research with a bit of humor to explore all the weird, awesome things that animals can do — from cockatoos opening garbage bins to goldfish driving “cars.” This collection recently won a gold award in the prestigious AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards for Children’s Science News.

Check out our most recent comic on aye-ayes’ truly astonishing nose-picking skills, and keep an eye out for upcoming cartoons on rats bopping along to musical beats and whales using their noses to sing.

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Catch up with the latest from Science News Explores

Native Amazonians make rich soils — and ancient people may have too: Modern Amazonians make nutrient-rich soil from ash, food scraps and burns. The soil strongly resembles the so-called ancient “dark earth” found in this region. Readability: 7.6 Resources: power words, another version of this at Science News

These lemurs take nose-picking to a new level: A nose-picking aye-aye’s spindly middle digit probably pokes all the way into the back of the throat, CT scans show. Readability: 7.4 Resources: power words, another version of this at Science News, comic

Here’s how to increase clean energy without harming wildlife: Wind farms, solar panels and more take up land and may harm plants or animals. Researchers are working to resolve this conflict. Readability: 6.8 Resources: power words, classroom questions, puzzle

Random hops always bring jumping beans to shade — eventually: It’s not fast, but jumping beans use randomness to maximize their chances of getting out of the sun’s heat. Readability: 6.0 Resources: power words, another version of this at Science News

and

Scientists Say: Kidney: The kidneys remove waste and excess water from the blood, forming urine. Readability: 6.0 Resources: power words, audio

Opportunity

A new educator guide from Science News Learning accompanies our Science News Explores story on the dwarf planet Quaoar’s impossible ring. With this lesson plan , students will learn how astronomers use a concept called the Roche limit and how the ring around Quaoar doesn’t follow the Roche limit rule. (Science News Learning, like Science News Explores, is part of the Society for Science.)

Find out more about the resources available for using Science News Explores stories for learning. And if you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone share this with you? Subscribe to this newsletter here. If you’ve got questions, suggestions or comments, email us at sns@sciencenews.org. Thank you for reading!