Humans Caused the Holocaust of Nature
	Throughout the history of Earth, countless plant and animal species have appeared and disappeared, because not only individuals, but species too get old and become extinct. Best case scenario, they live on in related species, that may later evolve in new plant or animal groups. Very few species resisted throughout the eons unchanged – they are called living fossils or relict species. However, most species simply disappeared with the pa ... [read more >>]
	23 April 2008, 03:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Circus Animals
	Circus, in its modern meaning, has been employing both domestic and wild animals. The horse was the first animal used in circus shows, whose canons emerged during the 18th century. Since then, the circus animals have been gradually increasing in number and variety. At the beginning, the trainers used animals that were easy and cheap to keep: dogs, cats, pigs, goats, crows, geese, pigeons and so on. Later, the shows turned far-reach ... [read more >>]
	14 April 2008, 10:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Animals and the Magnetic Field of the Earth
	The Earth has a magnetosphere that affects the life of most creatures on Earth. Earth’s magnetism is very weak, from 0.3 gauss at the Equator to 0.7 gauss at the Poles. Researchers discovered magnetic bacteria living in the ponds and lakes, presenting a chain of magnetic crystals inside their cells. Those located in the Northern Hemisphere swim in the direction of the magnetic north, while those from the Southern Hemisphere swim in the ... [read more >>]
	24 March 2008, 16:36GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

When What You See Is Not What You Believe It Is
	In nature, any species is sought after by other predator or prey species, which detect it through their senses (sight, hearing, smell). Victims can defend through venoms, unpleasant smells, run, or by deceiving the sensory input of their predators. One method is camouflage and mimicry. It is a balance between prey and predator bypassing this defense. To camouflage (homochromy) in order to escape predators or to surprise the possible pr ... [read more >>]
	22 March 2008, 08:44GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Do Animals Laugh?
	It seems so human, still laugh is not specific to humans. Monkeys, rats and dogs have already been found to enjoy a good "laugh". But it is hard to penetrate into their mind to see what a rat or dog could think when "laughing". Perhaps they think we, humans, are ugly... Anyway, laughing seems to be connected to a high development of the brain, and only some mammals are known to laugh. Laughing hyena surely not, nor the ... [read more >>]
	17 March 2008, 09:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Happy is a Zoo Animal?
	Unlike the stuffed animals in the museums or the documentaries on wild life, a zoo gives you the opportunity to see wild animals alive with your own eyes, at close range. Today, as our knowledge about species' biology and behavior has increased, zoos come with conditions more similar to those required by the animals in the wild. But many zoos are still far from being a heaven for the animals. The improper conditions in w ... [read more >>]
	09 January 2008, 07:07GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Odd Animal Statues
	Since antiquity, people have built statues to the animals. This was done for various religious or cultural reasons. For example, the animal could have represented the image of a god or was linked to local myths and legends, like the famous Roman statue of the she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Copies of this famous statue are found today in many countries speaking Romance (Latin-derived) languages, as these peopl ... [read more >>]
	27 October 2007, 05:17GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Supercow
	New week... New game and this time it’s again... No... We do not have a puzzle this week... I was really not in the mood for one anyway... I was about to choose one, because I didn't find any other good game around, but then... I was saved... by the Supercow. Ha! No, this game has nothing to do with the Cartoon Network show "Cow & Chicken". This is a game developed by the NevoSoft game studios and is more hilarious th ... [read more >>]
	12 October 2007, 04:27GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Dogs in Danger! Save a Puppy's Life!
	Dogs In Danger is a nonprofit organization which recently created a website in order to allow the dog lovers to adopt an animal with ease and save their lives faster than before. The page comes with a handy search function that contains the dog's breed, the zip code of the cities as well as a search radius which allows you to find puppies in a matter of seconds. The interesting fact is that the main page of Dogs In Danger is ... [read more >>]
	27 September 2007, 06:15GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

One of the Largest Giant Squid Washed up on Australian Beach
	Scientists had a rare occasion to study one of the most impressive marine animals, which gave birth to so many legends among sailors throughout history, a large giant squid that washed up to shore on a remote Australian beach, reported Reuters. It was really a fine specimen, but unfortunately the tentacles had been badly damaged, preventing an accurate determination of the total length. However, "it's a whopper,&quo ... [read more >>]
	11 July 2007, 05:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Animal Fightings
	Within the species, individuals can fight one against the other for different reasons, from food or shelter to social hierarchy or mating rights inside a group. In the case of a conflict between different species, the fight is determined by the antagonism between those species, like competition in the case of hyenas and lions. But even so, in nature these fights are rarely seen, as just one fight for establishing the hierarchy sets it ... [read more >>]
	26 May 2007, 06:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Did Stone Age People Start to Make Agriculture?
	During 4 million years of evolution, people just gathered, hunted and fished what nature offered, living just like another intelligent mammal. But about 12,000 years ago, with the Neolithic ("new stone") era, people started to be producers, creating voluntarily their subsistence means and breaking their dependence on nature's offer. In time, gathering, hunting and fishing lost importance in front of animal husbandry and ... [read more >>]
	24 May 2007, 17:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Where do Mythical Creatures Come From?
	Faced with some natural phenomena it could not explain, the human mind went wild and through imagination, misidentification, speculation or outright deception, fantastical mythological creatures appeared in cultures all around the world. But a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) this weekend, scientifically explains the possible origin of mythical creatures by means of data provided by nature, paleonto ... [read more >>]
	24 May 2007, 05:36GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Human Behavior Found in Animals
	Many observations on the animal behavior confirm that "animals just lack speech". In 1972, researchers witnessed an astonishing event involving wolves. A limping individual headed towards an abandoned den. His shoulder bore a deep wound. The next day, the researcher saw a big black male entering the den and regurgitating a big chunk of meat to the wounded animal and left. This maneuver repeated for several days till the wound ... [read more >>]
	19 May 2007, 07:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Sunlight and Life Behavior
	We, people, depend on light. Over 80 % of the information we get is visual. That's why during the night we employ artificial light when we do not sleep, in order to prolong our activity. The dark is associated by human beings with fear, uncertainty and even dread. It's a legacy from the monkey stage: as diurnal creatures, we have a poor night vision, while many of our ancient predators, like leopards, lions and hyenas, see very w ... [read more >>]
	04 May 2007, 19:21GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia