Kids News - Environment Articles

For humans seeing butterflies fluttering around with their beautiful brightly colored wings is a joyful sight. However not for their natural predators like lizards, spiders, and birds. To them, the vibrant hues are a reminder of a bad-tasting species that are best avoided. For those not easily duped, some butterflies also have eyespots on their wings. According to researchers, this tricks would-be predators into thinking that the insect is a larger animal, like an owl....

Honey, the rich gold liquid that we all love is the miraculous creation of industrious honey bees. However, while the delicious sweetener has been used for over 8,000 years, extracting it is still a laborious process that is stressful for both humans and bees....

Most animals that hibernate during cold winter months have thick coats of fur or layers of fat to protect them. However, the Rana sylvatica species of the wood frog that can be found in Alaska and the Arctic Circle has neither. Therefore this tiny amphibian has adapted by freezing and thawing itself depending on the external temperature....

Researchers have long suspected that hippos evolved from a family of plant-eating, semi-aquatic mammals called anthracotheres. The ancient animals that roamed freely all the way from North America to Asia inhabited Earth about 40 million years ago. However, scientists could never verify the theory since the only fossils of ancient hippos discovered thus far, dated back just 15 million years. Now thanks to Fabrice Lihoreau, there is finally some proof....

While whiteboards are great tools for educators and other speakers to use when explaining a concept, they can be distracting. That's because instead of paying attention to the speaker, the audience is often busy jotting down what's on the board before it is erased. Now, thanks to the ingenious Equil Smartmarker, the notes can be digitally captured and transmitted to a smart device, enabling the audience to focus their full attention to what's being said....

Seadragons may sound like mythical creatures from a fairy tale, but these tiny fish that are close cousins of seahorses and pipefish do exist. Found in the coastal waters off southern and western Australia, the gorgeous creatures that feed off tiny crustaceans, plankton, and larval fishes, do not have teeth or a stomach. They therefore, have to eat constantly and are always scouring the oceans in search of prey....

For over two decades, marine biologists have been listening to the songs from a whale that resides in the North Pacific. However, they have never heard a fellow mammal responding. That's because, unlike most whales that croon at a frequency of 15-20 hertz, this one sings at high pitched 52 hertz. As a result, this poor animal has never had a friend and, therefore, become known as the "world's loneliest whale!"...

Most artists have a favorite material they like to work with. For 28-year-old Kristen Alyce, it happens to be trash. The eco-conscious designer uses her incredible talent to transform garbage like empty drink bottles and Skittles wrappers into glamorous outfits that sell for thousands of dollars....

An underwater diver filming the beautiful coral in the Caribbean captured a rare sight - a perfectly camouflaged octopus emerging from its hiding place with its skin transforming from the dull green of the coral to a beautiful sky blue. Jonathon Gordon says that he was just trying to get a closer look at an unusual shell and had no idea that the creature was there, until he was just about a meter away....