Animal Anatomy

When the Titanic was built, many people thought the massive ship was unsinkable. Today it rests on the ocean floor. Learn about why ships sink and how past disasters and modern technology have led to safer ships.

Scrub all you want, but you'll never get your body entirely clean. From rash causing itch mites to bacteria swimming in your stomach, meet the tiny creatures hitching a ride on your body.

Air travel is one of the safest methods of transportation, but when a disaster happens, it captures the public's imagination. Learn about how airplanes are built, how researchers investigate a crash, how engineers are making planes safer, and more.

It's hurricane season. Scientists have detected a storm at sea, and it's growing. Learn about how these monster storms form, how scientists track them, and how people respond to their destruction.

The rumbling ground could only mean one thing: an earthquake. Learn about where and how earthquakes form, how scientists predict them, how structures are built to withstand them, and more.

A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs. In sharp and witty prose Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.

Have you ever wondered what’s inside that “thing” on the plant? What about what lives in the hole in the tree or what lives inside that “pile of leaves or sticks?” Explore and learn what some of these natural history objects are in this latest book by Nature Photographer and Naturalist Mary Holland.

Sickness is a fact of everyday life. But when sickness spreads from person to person rapidly, a deadly pandemic could result. Find out the causes behind major pandemics of history, such as the Spanish flu and the Bubonic plague. Then go behind the scenes to meet the people who are working hard every day to stop pandemics before they start.

Insects walk on water, snakes slither, and fish swim. Animals move with astounding grace, speed, and versatility: how do they do it, and what can we learn from them? In How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls, David Hu takes listeners on an accessible, wondrous journey into the world of animal motion. From basement labs at MIT to the rain forests of Panama, Hu shows how animals have adapted and evolved to traverse their environments, taking advantage of physical laws with results that are startling and ingenious.

Random Facts You Should Know: WTF Edition is jam-packed with fun and strange facts that you will be itching to unpack in any conversation to impress those around you. Whether you enjoy listening through these by yourself, with a partner, or with a group, you are bound to lose track of time while having a laugh and learning something new.

Transform the love you have for horses into a deep and lasting bond that is forged from optimal care for your horse’s health, a knowledge of the equine mind, and key strategies for communicating with your horse. Finally! Your lifelong dream has become a reality—you are about to own your very first horse. If you are a horse lover, it is very difficult to describe the unique sense of freedom and joy that arises every time you go horse riding.

When Jennifer Doudna was a sixth grader in Hilo, Hawaii, she came home from school one afternoon and found a book on her bed. It was The Double Helix, James Watson’s account of how he and Francis Crick had discovered the structure of DNA, the spiral-staircase molecule that carries the genetic instruction code for all forms of life. This book guided Jennifer Doudna to focus her studies not on DNA, but on what seemed to take a backseat in biochemistry: figuring out the structure of RNA, a closely related molecule that enables the genetic instructions coded in DNA to express themselves.

¿Qué tienen en común y en qué se diferencian los cangrejos y las langostas? Aunque ambos animales viven en el océano, uno prefiere nadar y el otro caminar. Uno puede ser encontrado en pozas costeras y el otro en alta mar. Ambos tienen esqueletos en la parte externa de sus cuerpos. ¡Hay mucho más sobre estos animales además de ser un buen alimento para nosotros! Aprende sobre estos crustáceos fascinantes en la edición más reciente de la serie de Un libro de comparaciones y contrastes.

Las focas y los leones marinos tienen un aspecto similar y algunas veces es complicado saber cuál es cuál. Ambos mamíferos marinos nadan con aletas y pueden encontrarse en océanos alrededor del mundo. Uno tiene orejas visibles, mientras que las orejas del otro no son externas. Uno atraviesa el agua utilizando sus aletas traseras, mientras que el otro usa sus aletas frontales para nadar. Ya sobre tierra, uno rebota hacia sus alrededores, mientras que el otro puede “caminar” sobre sus aletas.

¿Sabías que hay más insectos que cualquier otro grupo de animales? La diversidad de insectos es asombrosa. ¿Qué tienen en común las hormigas con las abejas? ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre una mariposa y una polilla? ¿Cómo están relacionados los gorgojos y las mariquitas? Algunos insectos tienen un par de alas, otros tienen dos pares y hay algunos que no tienen alas. Algunos insectos, aunque no todos, tienen un caparazón duro y externo (exoesqueleto). Aprende en qué se parecen y diferencian los insectos en esta nueva entrega de la serie de Comparaciones y Contrastes.

Sí, algunas de las 18 especies de pingüinos viven en regiones frías y polares, pero algunos pingüinos viven en climas cálidos. ¡Una especie incluso vive cerca del ecuador! Estas aves “vuelan” a través del agua con aletas en lugar de en el aire mediante alas. La mayoría son blancos y negros, pero una de las especies es azul y blanca. Algunos tienen ojos rojos y otros tienen ojos amarillos.

Listeners will be fascinated by the many ways animals use their tails - to move on land, swim, warn others, steer, hold onto things, keep warm, balance, fly, attract a mate, and even to defend themselves! Apparently tails are not just for wagging when happy. Following Animal Eyes, Animal Mouths (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Science Award), and Animal Legs, Mary Holland continues her Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series by exploring the many ways animals use their tails.

What are some things we can learn about animals from the shapes of their mouths, beaks, or bills? What can we infer about animals with sharp teeth compared to large, flat teeth? Are there any animals that don't have mouths? Following in the footsteps of Animal Eyes, award-winning nature photographer and environmental educator Mary Holland shares fascinating animal mouths with listeners of all ages.

Fur, feathers, and scales are all animal coverings or skins. Animals use their skin to stay warm and dry, protect themselves or hide or even to warn other animals to stay away. Following Animal Noses, Animal Tails, Animal Ears, Animal Eyes, Animal Mouths (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Science Award), and Animal Legs, Mary Holland continues her Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series by the many different ways that animals use and rely on their skin covering adaptations to survive in their habitats.

Swiss equestrian William "Zen" Griegg skyrockets to the top of the European show jumping circuit. As he sets his sights on the 2000 Olympic Games, his beloved horse Tiger is abducted en route to a competition in the United States. Zen's father, Sigmund Griegg, again teams with American Alana Eastwood to solve an international mystery that leads them from a secret tunnel in the Owl Mountains of Poland, through the art galleries of Zürich, to the Hamilton Farm Equestrian Center in Gladstone, New Jersey.