Search results for beak size:
Scientists find that squid beak is both hard and soft, a material that engineers want to copy
Mar 27, 2008 |
4 / 5 (27) |
0
How did nature make the squid’s beak super hard and sharp –– allowing it, without harm to its soft body –– to capture its prey? The question has captivated those interested in creating new materials that mimic biological ...
Scientists solve gravity-defying bird beak mystery
May 15, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (22) |
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As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use ...
New Research on Darwin's Finches Offers Rare Glimpse Into How Species Diverge
Biology /
Nov 10, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some of the latest research on Darwin’s finches of the Galapagos Islands shows an unexpected pattern of natural selection that is allowing researchers “a rare glimpse into what the early stages ...
Birds 'See' Earth's Magnetic Field
Nov 16, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
2
When birds migrate over long distances -- sometimes thousands of miles -- they usually end up in exactly the same place year after year. Such accurate feats of navigation, accomplished by millions of birds ...
Prehistoric equatorial penguins reached 5 feet in height
Biology /
Jun 25, 2007 |
4.6 / 5 (18) |
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Giant prehistoric penguins? In Peru? It sounds more like something out of Hollywood than science, but a researcher from North Carolina State University along with U.S., Peruvian and Argentine collaborators ...
How evolution learns from past environments to adapt to new environments
Biology /
Nov 07, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (18) |
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The evolution of novel characteristics within organisms can be enhanced when environments change in a systematic manner, according to a new study by Weizmann Institute researchers. Merav Parter, Nadav Kashtan and Uri Alon ...
Engineers discover why toucan beaks are models of lightweight strength
Physics /
Nov 30, 2005 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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As a boy growing up in Brazil 40 years ago, Marc A. Meyers marveled at the lightweight toughness of toucan beaks that he occasionally found on the forest floor. Now a materials scientist and professor of ...
Extinct New Zealand eagle may have eaten humans
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 11, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (14) |
3
(AP) -- Sophisticated computer scans of fossils have helped solve a mystery over the nature of a giant, ancient raptor known as the Haast's eagle which became extinct about 500 years ago, researchers said Friday.
Who can cool his body fast? Toucan
Jul 23, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
(AP) -- The toucan's colorful bill gives new meaning to the phrase cool dude. Indeed, that gigantic schnoz turns out to be a radiator the rain forest dweller uses to lose body heat. The bill of the Toco Toucan ...
Tale of two snails reveals secrets about the biochemistry of evolution
Nov 03, 2008 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Researchers in Spain are reporting deep new insights into how evolution changes the biochemistry of living things, helping them to adapt to new environments. Their study, based on an analysis of proteins produced ...
Birdsong sounds sweeter because throats filter out messy overtones
Apr 04, 2006 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
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The purity of birdsong is owed in large part to rapid, controlled changes in the shape of the birds' upper vocal tracts, according to a new study of Northern Cardinals by scientists at Indiana University Bloomington, ...
Bizarre bird gets private beach in Indonesia
May 15, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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(AP) -- A species of birds able to fly immediately after hatching from eggs buried beneath the tropical sand has just been given its own private beach in eastern Indonesia, a conservation group said Friday.
Two golden eagles poisoned in Scotland
Biology /
Aug 06, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
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Police are investigating the poisoning of two golden eagles found dead in the Cairngorms National Park in northeastern Scotland.
Tracing the Roots of the California Condor
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Oct 29, 2007 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
1
At the end of the Pleistocene epoch some 10,000 years ago, two species of condors in California competed for resources amidst the retreating ice of Earth's last major glacial age. The modern California condor triumphed, while ...
Study explores violent world of raptors
Nov 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
A journey that started with a box of bird feet carried three Montana State University graduate students into the gruesome world of raptors and led to their findings being published in a prominent journal.
