Trees Call for Help—And Now Scientists Can Understand

Team identifies the sounds made by drought-stressed trees.A tree stands alone in the drought-stricken Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho, in an undated picture.   When drought hits, trees can suffer—a process that makes sounds. Now, scientists may have found the key to understanding these cries for help.In the lab, a team of French scientists has captured the ultrasonic noise made by bubbles...

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Birds of Prey: World's Deadliest: Superfast Flyer Makes a Kill

World's Deadliest: Superfast Flyer Makes a Kill When the peregrine falcon dives for prey, birds in mid-flight don't stand a chan...

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Birds of Prey: World's Deadliest: Rattlesnake vs. Hawk

World's Deadliest: Rattlesnake vs. Hawk This desert showdown pits brains against brawn. Using its wings as a distraction, can a hawk bring down a venomous rattle...

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Octopus and Squid: World's Deadliest: "Sudden Death" Cuttlefish.

World's Deadliest: "Sudden Death" Cuttlefish: Crustaceans beware: That piece of coral might be a camouflaged cuttlefish looking for a quick bit...

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Space & Tech News: Predicting Meteorite Impacts

Predicting Meteorite Impacts: February 15, 2013—Astrobiologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Kevin Hand explains how Asteroid DA-14 could be only the beginning of what we can expect from space. With more than a million such objects out there, what can be done to prevent a meteor strike like the one that crashed into Russia this morning? ...

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Animal News: Penguins: No Fail at Mealtime

  Penguins: No Fail at Mealtime: January 29, 2013—Japanese researchers, using cameras strapped to the backs of Adelie penguins in Antarctica, showed a perfect success rate at catching prey underwater. ...

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Coelacanth Genes Mapped, "Living Fossil" Evolved Slowly

Coelacanth Genes Mapped, "Living Fossil" Evolved Slowly:  A coelacanth poses for its portrait in South Africa's Sodwana Bay. In the deep sea, slow and steady wins the race—and that proverb is reflected in the genes of the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), a new study says.When the study authors sequenced the ancient fish's genome, they found that its genes have been evolving more slowly...

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Watch the Lunar Eclipse Live

Northern Hemisphere observers can watch event via live feed.  A partial lunar eclipse is seen from Loudwater, England, in 2011. The full moon will get a tiny bite taken out of today as it undergoes one of the shallowest and shortest partial eclipses of this century. (See lunar eclipse pictures.)Though the celestial phenomenon will be visible only in the Eastern Hemisphere, armchair...

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Space Pictures This Week:

Space Pictures This Week: Nebulae, Rockets, and a New Earth   This Hubble Space Telescope shot of the Horsehead Nebula, released April 19, was taken in celebration of the telescope's 23rd anniversary. Pictured in infrared wavelengths for the first time, the Horsehead is part of the larger constellation Orion. The nebula is relatively close—just 1,500 light-years from Earth—which makes it...

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Top 10 Amazing Earth Facts

Top 10 Amazing Earth Facts: As well known and well traveled as our planet is, there are still new things being discovered every day. In fact, most of our oceans haven’t even been explored yet which is why when new depths are located; they often come with hundreds of new species. Rain forests offer up new animals and plants as often as we can explore them. The Earth is constantly changing,...

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Red-winged Blackbird

 Red-winged Blackbird: The Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north...

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Anna's Hummingbird

Cool Slow Motion Male Anna's Hummingbird: Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. This bird was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli. Anna's Hummingbird is 3.9 to 4.3 inches (10 to 11 centimeters) long. It has a bronze-green back, a pale grey chest and belly, and green flanks. Its bill is long, straight and slender....

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Lyre Bird Environment.

 This Bird Can Copy The Sound OF Everybody: A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, that form the genus, Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured tailfeathers. Lyrebirds are among Australia's best-known...

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Dolphin Saves A Pregnant Lady And Men From A Shark

Why Do Dolphins Love Pregnant Women?Because they know they are pregnant through use of their sonar abilities and are excited by the discovery. For Other Uses, See Dolphin: Dolphins are marine mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui's dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft)...

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Who is stronger a lion or tiger?

See list of sources below:   Both of these animals are powerful and fierce carnivores. But scientists say that in a fight between a Bengal tiger and an African lion, there is a 90% chance that the Tiger will win. It is a well-known fact that tigers are the biggest cats in the world. Not only this, but tigers are noticeably more muscular, and better fighters. It is actually a myth...

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Nudibranch Displays A Stunning Set Of Colors:

This Nudibranch Displays A Stunning Set Of Colors:  The body is purple, the cerata are orange and the rhinophores are scarlet.  The neon orange appendages on the back of Flabellina iodinea are the cerata which extract oxygen from the sea water they live in. The cerata are also extensions of the digestive system, and are used to store the stinging cells of the...

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Cats: World's Deadliest: Lion Pack vs. Buffalo

Cats: World's Deadliest: Lion Pack vs. Buffalo  A Cape buffalo can outweigh a single lion five to one. Can some reinforcements tip the scale in the lions' favor?  ...

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Rare Video OF Endangered Shorebird

Rare Video of Endangered Shorebird: March 5, 2013—Researchers with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology capture video of newborn Spoon Billed Sandpiper chicks. This critically endangered Asian shorebird could go extinct within ten years. ...

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World Largest Spider

World's Largest Spider: The goliath birdeater tarantula of South America is arguably the biggest spider in the world. Watch as one hapless mouse wanders into a spider's deadly trap, and see the unusual adaptations that make the goliath one of nature's deadliest ambushers.  SPIDER BITE:A spider bite is an injury resulting from the bites of spiders or other closely related arachnids.Spiders...

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Japanese Scientists and Discovery Channel Capture First Pictures of Giant Squid

The first images and video of a giant squid swimming in the ocean depths has been captured by a Japanese-led group of scientists, with support from the Japanese national broadcaster NHK and the Discovery Channel. The squid was on the small side – only about 3 meters (10 feet) long. The largest ever found measured about 18 meters. The giant mollusk’s eyes are the size of a human head...

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ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time.  In contrast to other historical disciplines, it emphasizes the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs. Environmental historians study how humans both shape their environment and are shaped by it. Environmental history emerged in the United States out of the environmental movement of...

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