For 13 years, photographer Imre Potyó has ventured into restricted-access mine tunnels in the Börzsöny Mountains of Hungary to capture images of hibernating lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros). Despite their deep slumber, the bats occasionally wake to hunt insects that enter the dark caves.

“In doing so, the bat leaves behind droppings that gradually accumulate into a continuous dark layer,” Potyó explains. “And this is where the real wonder begins: in the beam of a torch, a whitish coating can be seen on the guano—a small pin mould thriving in this unusual habitat. Using a macro lens, I captured the mould in the foreground with the hibernating bats visible in the background. The photograph—a long exposure incorporating a focus shift—was taken during a controlled bat count and without disturbing the animals.”

That effort paid off. Potyó’s image, titled “Hidden Worlds,” (seen below) took home top honors at the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 awards.

The European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (EWPY) competition is now in its 26th year. Amateur and professional photographers in 46 countries submitted more than 26,000 images, from which 107 were selected as winners across nine categories and two special categories.

“All the photographers taking part in this competition share a common outlook: they move through the world with open eyes and are committed to a harmonious coexistence of people and nature,” Sabine Riewenherm, President of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), said in a statement. Through their work, they draw attention to the beauty of our planet, but also to its vulnerability. I am deeply grateful to these photographers for their outstanding contribution, as they play a vital role in raising awareness for nature and its protection.”

The post 12 striking images from European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 appeared first on Popular Science.

What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to Popular Science’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show.

FACT: The weirdest lake on Earth? It just might be Lake Baikal.

Featuring Geo Rutherford

This week’s episode features special guest Geo Rutherford, who you almost certainly know (at least from the forehead-up) as the host of “Spooky Lake Month.” Geo is also the author of a new book about yet another subject in haunted hydrology: spooky rivers. But for her appearance on Weirdest Thing, Geo stuck with the classics and told us about her favorite spooky lake of all. 

While Geo’s first lake love will always be Lake Superior, she says the body of water she keeps finding new weird facts about is Lake Baikal. 

This Siberian body of water is the deepest lake in the world—just over a mile, to be precise—and it holds more liquid than all of the Great Lakes combined, or around 1/5th of the planet’s total unfrozen freshwater supply. It’s also the world’s most ancient lake, dating back some 25 million years or more. 

Baikal has stuck around long after most lakes would fill in with sediment because the earth beneath it is slowly being pulled apart. That rift means it keeps getting deeper and deeper, which provides somewhere for all the sediment brought in by rivers to go. 

Baikal isn’t just chillingly deep. It’s also home to a host of unique animals, including the world’s only exclusively freshwater seal and some shockingly large amphipods. And don’t forget the trains!

FACT: There’s a songbird that walks underwater 

Featuring Liz Clayton Fuller

This week’s episode also featured friend-of-the-pod Liz Clayton Fuller, who came on to share another fascinating bird fact with us. 

While most songbirds flit through the treetops, the American Dipper—one of just a handful of dipper species in the world—dives headlong into freezing glacial meltwater and walks along chilly creek beds on long, spindly toes. 

There’s a lot of weird stuff going on with this chunky little bird: it’s got solid bones to help cut down on buoyancy, eye lenses designed to focus-up under water, and nose flaps that act like the dorky little nose clips a kid might wear in a pool. 

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about these bizarre birdies—including how they helped launch Liz’s bird-painting career.

FACT: These soiled underpants made it all the way from the lab to the runway

By Rachel Feltman

Most people think of dirt as being pretty…inert. But a single teaspoon of soil can hold more organisms than there are people on Earth, and that microbial abundance is incredibly important. When soil gets too degraded—which is an increasing problem as humans farm and otherwise develop more land—we can end up with situations like the Dust Bowl. 

Researchers have previously used the teabag index (TBI) to help citizen scientists collect and share data on the health of their local soil. But a team at the University of Zurich wondered if they could come up with something a little more visually appealing, and they landed on (literally) soiled underwear. 

While the idea of burying underpants to check soil health is (to my delight) nothing new, these researchers wanted to apply some scientific rigor to the process. About 1,000 Swiss volunteers were conscripted to bury identical sets of white briefs, plus tea bags, so the researchers could quantify their decomposition and see how an underwear index would measure up to the good-ol’-TBI. Sure enough, they showed that underpants work as well as teabags for tracking soil’s ability to decompose organic material.

The study won an Ig Nobel prize, but that’s not all: A Zurich-based designer also turned the dirty undies into a Rococo-inspired ball gown so heavy it needed custom panniers. 

The post Earth’s spookiest lake is in Siberia and dates back 25 million years appeared first on Popular Science.

Japan launches a ground-breaking mission to the Mars moon Phobos today, and you can watch live.

The JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission aims to collect samples from Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons, and deliver it back to Earth for analysis. If successful, the samples could help solve long-standing mysteries about Mars’ moons, including their origin.

In 1877, US astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Phobos and its smaller sibling, Deimos. The moons have arguably the most bad-ass names in our solar system: Phobos comes from the ancient Greek word φόβος (phobos), meaning “fear,” and Deimos originates with the ancient Greek word Δεῖμος, which translates to “dread.”

Despite increased attention on Mars in recent decades, astronomers don’t know exactly how the celestial bodies formed. Theories include asteroids or debris leftovers from way back when the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

“The samples from MMX will bring forth paradigm-shifting science on the Mars system for generations to come, especially as NASA prepares to send the first humans to Mars,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator and Science Mission Directorate at NASA, said in a statement. While a JAXA mission, NASA worked with the agency to provide instruments and technologies to assist.

The MMX spacecraft launches on top of an H3 rocket at Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center today at 3:41 p.m. EDT (4:41 a.m. Japan Standard Time on October 20). You can watch it live on JAXA’s YouTube page. The mission will get to Phobos in August 2027 and spend at least 16 months surveying the surface before collecting samples. The samples will not return to Earth until at least 2031.

The post How to watch Japan’s mission to Mars appeared first on Popular Science.

Sometime between 32,000 and 11,000 years ago, dogs domesticated. Since then, these four-legged friends have provided companionship, assistance, and protection for people. Whether you favor a squished-face potato dog or a determined and smart working dog, you likely understand how dogs got the designation of “man’s best friend.”

The Dog Photography Awards celebrate dogs of all shapes and sizes. The annual competition awards prizes across six categories (Studio, Action, Portrait, Dogs & People, Documentary, and Open) in addition to naming an overall winner.

This year, Katie Brockman took the prestigious title of Dog Photographer of the Year. The St. Louis-based photographer’s winning entry, titled “Loved and Hated” (seen below), captures the duality of feelings around pitbulls and similar breeds.

“I started photography after my dog Caldwell ended up at the emergency vet on Christmas Eve 2020 for an obstruction surgery” Brockman said. “I suddenly realized that I didn’t have enough photos of him, and I wanted a way to document our adventures together. So I saved up for a camera, and in 2021, I officially started my dog photography journey.”

This year’s competition drew 1,900 entries from photographers in 50 countries. A judging panel of photographers, dog experts, and industry professionals decided on the winners. And when it comes to photographing dogs, aren’t we all winners?

The post 15 uplifting images from Dog Photography Awards 2026 appeared first on Popular Science.

Many of the cutest animals on Earth have one appendage in common. Whether you’re thinking of an adorable raccoon, a kitten, or a puppy, it’s hard to imagine them without their fluffy tail. In fact, the overwhelming majority of animals have tails. Only a select few, like us humans, don’t have an external tail. 

But why don’t humans have tails? To answer that question we have to go way back in our family tree, long before the first hominids ever showed up. We’re talking 25 to 30 million years ago when Megalodon stalked the seas.

Ask Us Anything answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. So, yes, there’s a best sleep position and no, cremation isn’t good for the Earth. If you have a question for us, send us a note. Nothing is too silly or simple.

This episode is based on the Popular Science article “Why humans don’t have tails.”

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Full Episode Transcript

Sarah Durn: Think of some of the cutest animals you know, a puppy, a kitten, maybe a little red panda. Now, picture them without their tails. 

It’s weird, right? 

Tails are such a normal part of the animal world that we barely think about them, and they’re not just adorable accessories. 

A kangaroo uses its big muscular tail to help it balance. Opossums can use their tails to grip branches. Fish use theirs to propel them through the water. And your dog can communicate an entire emotional journey with just a few well-timed wags. 

Tails can help animals climb, swim, steer, balance, communicate, even swat away an annoying bug.

So what happened to ours? Because humans are part of a huge evolutionary family where tails are basically standard equipment. 

We even briefly start developing a tail when we’re embryos. But look behind you now, and unless something has gone very unexpectedly, you probably don’t have one.

And neither do chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, or any of our other ape relatives. So somewhere deep in our evolutionary past, our ancestors lost their tails. But why? And what would life be like if we still had them?

Welcome to Ask Us Anything from the editors of Popular Science, where we answer your questions about our weird world from what’s the best sleep position to why do dogs tilt their heads?

No question is too simple or too out there. I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Popular Science.

Annie Colbert: And hi, I’m Annie Colbert, editor-in-chief

SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering quirky questions

AC: And this week we’re wondering: Why don’t humans have tails? Because tails are everywhere in the animal kingdom.

SD: And they’re incredibly useful. Beavers use their big flat tails to help maneuver through the water. Some monkeys can basically use their tails like an extra limb, wrapping them around branches as they climb. And rattlesnakes, of course, turn theirs into a built-in warning system

AC: So what happened to ours? Did we just lose them somewhere?

SD: Well, technically, humans never lost them.

AC: Okay.

SD: But that said, we have to go way back in our family tree, tens of millions of years back, to find out why our butts don’t have tails anymore.

AC: I’m guessing the answer isn’t because of pants?

SD: No, you are correct. This goes way beyond pants. We’re talking back to a time when our ancient ape ancestors were still hanging out in trees

AC: So when did tails disappear then? And more importantly, why would you want to give up a perfectly good tail?

SD: That’s the big question because for lots of animals, tails are incredibly useful for balance. But the way our ancient ape ancestors moved through the trees may have actually made a tail kind of pointless.

AC: So evolution really said, “We’re not using this anymore, so just get rid of it.”

SD: Yeah, pretty much. And later we’re going to get into what those ancient apes looked like and why their particular style of tree climbing may have made tails more trouble than they’re worth.

AC: And naturally, we also have to ask the important question: Would life actually be better if humans still had tails?

SD: I have some thoughts.

AC: Same. Many thoughts. 

Now, before we swing into our evolutionary past, we want to know what questions are circling in your brain hole. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, submit your questions by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask.

Again, that’s popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link

SD: We can’t wait to hear your questions

AC: We’ll be back right after this quick break to find out how humans ended up on team no tail.

SD: And stick around to the end because we’ll be joined by Science Friday host Flora Lichtman to discuss what makes a really good tail and whether she’d want one herself.

And we’re back. Okay, Annie, before this episode, how much time have you spent thinking about your tail?

AC: Absolutely none. I can confidently say I have never yearned for a tail.

SD: Yeah. No, I mean, neither have I, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about my tailbone.

AC: Uh-oh, where is this going?

SD: Yeah. Uh, a couple years ago, I was walking my Saint Bernard, Poochie, when he caught a whiff of something and took off. And me, trying to be a responsible dog walker, tried to hold onto the leash.

AC: Oh no.

SD: Yes, yes, yes. Safe to say Poochie, the Saint Bernard, won, and I fell straight onto my butt.

AC: Oh, Sarah. Ouch

SD: Yes, it was un-ideal. I ended up bruising my tailbone pretty bad.

AC: Mm.

SD: And unfortunately for me, this happened about a week before I left for a two-week long trip to Italy.

AC: Oof.

SD: Rome, Pompeii, the Colosseum, the Amalfi Coast, Puglia, all while carrying a little donut butt pillow everywhere I went.

AC: Oh my.

SD: Sometimes I even wore it as a hat.

AC: I mean, obviously.

SD: You know, sun protection is important.

AC: Crucial.

SD: Yeah, so I have actually spent a bit of time thinking about and cursing our teeny-tiny, mostly not there human tail because out we actually do have a tail. Kinda.

AC: Hmm. All right. Tell me more

SD: That tailbone I bruised, the coccyx, is at the bottom of your spine. 

It’s basically what’s left of when our ancestors actually had a proper external tail.

AC: But humans had more of a tail at one point, right? Like fetuses have tails in the womb?

SD: Correct. When human embryos are developing, we actually form a little tail that extends beyond the rest of the body. But by around eight weeks, that external tail disappears.

AC: So I briefly had a tail?

SD: You did!

AC: Ugh, RIP. Gone too soon.

SD: We should all have a, like, little tail funeral upon our birth.

AC: Eh, that’s obviously the only normal response here.

SD: I mean, obviously. 

Okay, but here’s the thing. Humans didn’t suddenly decide to ditch our tails. We inherited our tailless bodies from our ape ancestors. 

So if we really want to figure out why humans don’t have tails today, we have to first figure out how our furry ancestors lost theirs. And for that, we have to go way back.

AC: How far back are we talking?

SD: Well, first let’s go back about five or six million years. 

That’s roughly when scientists estimate the last common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos lived, and that doesn’t really help us with our tail mystery

AC: Because chimps and bonobos don’t have tails either.

SD: Exactly. And neither do gorillas, orangutans, or any other modern ape. So we have to keep going back.

AC: So rewind. Whoop, rewind.

SD: And eventually we get all the way back to around 25 to 30 million years ago. Megalodon is stalking the seas. Daeodon, aka “hell pigs,” were roaming North American forests. And keep in mind, we’re still tens of millions of years before the first saber-toothed cats and mammoths pop up. 

And this is where things get interesting because around this time, our ape ancestors branched off from the ancestors of modern monkeys.

AC: And monkeys do have tails.

SD: Right. Most do. 

So somewhere around this part of our family tree, around 25 to 30 million years ago, we finally crossed over to the tailless side from our tailed ancestors. 

The frustrating thing is the fossil record doesn’t give us a perfect family album. We can’t point to one specific ancient ape and say, “There, that’s our ancestor, that’s the one that lost the tail.” But we can find clues, and one of the best clues comes from an ancient ape called Ekembo.

AC: Tell us your secret, ancient ape

SD: Yes! Tell them. So fossils from this genus have been found in Kenya and date back about 17 to 20 million years. And these animals would’ve looked pretty different from modern apes. 

One species, Ekembo heseloni, probably had arms and legs that were roughly the same size. It climbed around on tree branches on all fours, and it had a long, flexible lower back, unlike modern apes. But there’s one thing we know it didn’t have.

AC: A tail?

SD: Exactly. And we can tell because of particular bone, the sacrum.

AC: And where is my sacrum?

SD: It’s right at the base of your lower spine, and it’s actually one of the places scientists can look to to figure out whether an animal could have supported a tail or not. 

If you look at the sacrum of a cat or another tailed mammal, it leads into a whole bunch of tail vertebrae. 

But in humans and apes, the sacrum just ends in a, you know, little point. And scientists see that little point in Ekembo heseloni. So even though this animal lived up to 20 million years ago, we know they didn’t have a tail.

AC: So by 20 million years ago, the tail was already gone.

SD: At least in Ekembo.

AC: Mm.

SD: And it’s not alone. 

Another ancient ape called Nacholapithecus shows up in Kenya around 15 million years ago, and fossils of its sacrum show the same thing. It couldn’t have supported a tail either. 

So we don’t know exactly which one of these ancient apes ultimately gave rise to later hominids, aka our ancestors, but we do know that tailless apes were already walking or climbing around millions and millions of years before humans existed.

AC: Okay, so we know the tail disappeared way back in our evolutionary history, but that still leaves the biggest question, which is why? Like, why would you give up a tail? They seem kind of awesome.

SD: And this is where we get into a little bit of scientific speculation because we don’t have one definitive answer. 

One possibility is that it has to do with the way these early apes moved. Think about modern animals that really benefit from tails. 

If you’re a cheetah sprinting and making incredibly fast turns, a tail can help you balance. Or if you’re a monkey moving quickly through the trees, a tail can be really useful. But these early apes weren’t moving like modern monkeys.

AC: So what were they doing?

SD: Well, millions of years ago, these apes probably had arms and legs that were about the same length, and scientists think they walked on all fours. 

They were also climbing through trees looking for fruit. And if you’re trying to get some delicious fruit growing way out on the edge of a branch, you don’t necessarily want to go flying through the canopy. 

You want to move slowly and carefully they could support their weight across multiple branches and deliberately work their way towards the good stuff.

AC: So less swinging dramatically through the jungle…

SD: …and more very cautious trip to the fruit bowl. 

AC: Got it.

SD: And if you’re moving that slowly and deliberately, a tail might not give you much of an advantage. In fact, it could actually come with costs. 

Your body has to spend energy growing this whole extra appendage, and then you’re dragging it around behind you where a predator could potentially grab it.

So as the University of Missouri anatomist Carol Ward told Popular Science, for these slow-moving, careful climbers, the tail just didn’t offer an advantage.

AC: So after all of this, the answer to why don’t humans have tails is basically because our ancestors stopped needing them.

SD: That’s one theory, but the important thing is that we didn’t lose our tails because humans started walking upright or because of something that happened recently in human evolution. 

By the time anything resembling a human showed up, tails had already been absent from our branch of the family tree for millions and millions of years

AC: So I never really stood a chance.

SD: Nope. You were born into a long, proud lineage of tailless apes.

AC: Yet after this whole conversation, I’m starting to feel like we kinda got a bad deal.

SD: Yeah, well, before you get too jealous of Team Tail, there is someone I want us to talk to because last year Science Friday host Flora Lichtman went looking for an answer to a very important question. If you are gonna have a tail, what’s the best one to have?

AC: Ooh, yes. Let’s talk upgrades.

SD: Yes, let’s. We’ll talk with Flora about the science of tails, whether there really is a best tail for balance, and whether she’d actually want one herself. That’s after this quick break. 

And we’re back with Flora Lichtman. Flora is a podcaster extraordinaire, an Emmy-nominated writer for Bill Nye’s Netflix show, Bill Nye Saves the World, and one of the hosts of Science Friday, a public radio program and podcast about science, nature, technology, and health. 

Flora, thank you so much for making the time to come on Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything podcast.

Flora Lichtman: I am delighted to be here. Thank you for the invitation, and I love tails, so glad to talk about them.

SD: So yes, as you know, throughout this episode, we’ve been talking all about why humans don’t have tails when so many animals do, and last year you actually explored an important piece of this puzzle on a Science Friday episode called “In Search of the Best Tail for Balance,” which we’ll link in the show notes.

In the episode, you talked with roboticist Dr. Talia Moore and developmental biologist Dr. Ceri Weber about their work into figuring out what’s the best tail, and how a tail could actually help us build better robots.

So obviously I have to ask: Is there actually a best tail for balance?

FL: You know, of course, if you ask scientists, they’ll never give you a best because that’s their, their whole job is to find the nuance and the complicated elements of every story. But what I did learn from them is that there are ways to design tails so that they do their job better.

SD: Hmm.

FL: And the thing that I didn’t know about tails is that they’re an inertial appendage, which is not a term I’d heard.

But the way these researchers described it is that it’s like a tightrope walker’s stick.

SD: Hmm.

FL: That you use to sort of regain your balance. Like that, for animals with tails, that is a primary reason why they have a tail.

SD: Yeah.

FL: The difference, though, between a tightrope walker stick and a tail is that most tails aren’t rigid rods, right? Like, they’re curvy and they’re twisty. 

So what these researchers did is this simulation to try to compare, you know, what tails work best as this inertial appendage, and they found that design matters, and, like, you can optimize basically the bones in the tail to make them work better. And they found, it turns out if you have, like, short bones, then long bones, then short bones, that gives you a very good tail. 

And it turns out that a lot of mammals in the animal kingdom have tails just like this.

SD: Wow. Amazing. So after spending all of this time thinking about tails: Would you want one?

FL: You know, Sarah, I’ve been thinking about that. Here’s the problem. I already have such a problem finding pants that I like and that fit, so I feel like the tail is just not a challenge I need. 

On the other hand, I’m also very clumsy, and I do feel like maybe a tail would’ve helped me in the past.

SD: Yes.

FL: …keep my balance.

SD: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like theoretically, pants aside, if you did have a tail as a human, what would be different? What would be harder? What would be easier?

FL: I mean, besides my look, I think, the thing that would be easier is walking on a slippery, icy day in the Northeast.

SD: Mm-hmm.

FL: I think they do really help you regain balance. I like the idea of being able to swing from the trees.

SD: Yeah.

FL: I’m at the playground a lot with my kids. I feel like it would be a real flex to get on those monkey bars with a tail.

SD: Oh my God, you’d be the coolest mom.

FL: The something-ist mom for sure.

Would you want a tail?

SD: I think, yeah, I mean, I guess, like, I think I would. I think it’d be fun. I feel like it’s kinda like having wings, you know? 

You’d be definitely, like, ostracized a little bit. Like, people would look at you funny, but you could do a lot of cool stuff. I don’t know. I look at squirrels, and they’re basically flying, 

FL: That’s true.

SD: Okay, so you also encountered a lot of impressive tales, I’m sure, in your reporting. Do you have a favorite tale from the animal world?

FL: I’m really love seahorse tails.

SD: Oh, yeah.

FL: They’re so iconic and twisty and beautiful and they really need them because they’re these lightweight little animals that are, like, being, you know, battered by ocean waves, and they can use them to hang on. 

But I was reading that not only that, which is like, that’s all cool, but actually, while most tails are cylindrical, the seahorse tail actually has a square profile, which I thought was cool, too.

So it’s… I don’t know. I’m into the seahorse tail.

SD: Yeah, no, excellent choice. Excellent, excellent choice. Flora, thank you so much for taking the time to talk tails with us. It was absolutely lovely.

FL: Delighted to be here. I would love to come back anytime.

SD: Oh, we’d love to have you.

AC: Okay, I started this episode having never really thought about having a tail, and now I definitely feel like maybe I’m missing out. Like, when I need help holding things, give me a tail.

SD: Same. Although after my tailbone incident, maybe I shouldn’t be trusted with an additional appendage.

AC: Yeah, that’s maybe for the best. 

And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

And if you like our show, please leave a rating and a review

SD: If you could have any animal’s tail, which one would you want? Tell us in the comments.

AC: Yes, we want to know.

SD: We wanna know. Our producer is Alan Haburchak. This week’s episode was based on an article written for Popular Science by Sarah Kiley Watson, and a big thank you to Flora Lichtman for joining us.

AC: Thank you team, thank you tails, and thank you everyone for listening

SD: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Until next time, be careful with your tailbone and keep the questions coming.

AC: Wait, if we had tails, what would chairs look like? And pants, and car seats.

SD: Planes? It’d be kind of cute to see all the tails lined up.

AC: I feel like we need tails. It’s time to change up humans.

SD: Let’s do it. I’m ready.

AC: Yeah. We had a good run.

The post Humans were never built for tails. Here’s why. appeared first on Popular Science.

In the Huab River Valley of Namibia, a female elephant carries the body of a deceased calf. It’s a tragic scene that offers a rare glimpse at the complex social behaviors of animals. Photographer Federico Veronesi documented the moment and his striking image took top honors at 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.

“This photograph works on so many levels. Emotionally it’s a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant,” Kathy Moran, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury, said. “Intellectually it’s proof that animals have cognition. This photograph says it all!”

Photographers from around the world submitted more than 65,000 photographs for consideration this year. Prizes were awarded across 20 categories, including honors for young photographers.

Winners across categories:

• 10 Years and Under: Amelie Davis (UK)
• 11 – 14 Years: Oscar Whitfield (UK/Zimbabwe)
• 15 – 17 Years: Konrad Gräeter (Germany)
• Animals in their Environment: James Lewin (UK)
• Animal Portraits: Aaron Sanders (UK)
• Behaviour: Birds – Isak Pretorius (South Africa)
• Behaviour: Mammals – Federico Veronesi (Italy)
• Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles – Anton Sorokin (USA)
• Behaviour: Invertebrates – Sitaram Raul (India)
• Oceans: The Bigger Picture – Alex Lindbloom (USA)
• Plants and Fungi: Agorastos Papatsanis (Greece)
• Natural Artistry: Michał Michalski (Poland)
• Underwater: Tony Wu (Japan/USA)
• Urban Wildlife: Seth Forestson (USA)
• Wetlands: The Bigger Picture – Alex Visbal (Colombia)
• Photojournalism: Francisco Negroni (Chile)
• Photojournalist Story Award: Loren Elliott (USA)
• Rising Star Award: Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas (Germany)
• Portfolio Award: Kutub Uddin (Bangladesh/UK)
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Federico Veronesi (Italy)

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The winning images will be on display at the museum until July 11, 2027.

The post Powerful image of a grieving elephant wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year appeared first on Popular Science.

Nature. It’s beautiful. It’s awe-inspiring. And it’s really scary. The new book Nature is Metal: It’s A Life-Eats-Life World features full-color photographs and vivid descriptions of the physical features, survival adaptations, and hunting skills innate to 75 of nature’s most metal plants, animals, and natural phenomena. 

Browse through some of these raw and real images in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

Excerpted from Nature Is Metal: It’s a Life-Eats-Life World by Ettore R. Paolucci and Hans Aschim. Copyright © 2026. Available from Workman, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. wherever books are sold on October 13.

About the Author

Ettore R. Paolucci (Rick) is the founder of Nature Is Metal, the viral phenomenon with 7.5M subscribers on Instagram (@natureismetal) and 1.23M on YouTube (@natureism3tal). A self-taught storyteller with a sharp eye for viral content, he’s created his own unique voice that’s defined a new way of seeing nature online.

Hans Aschim is a writer and creative director based in Vancouver, BC. When he’s not at his desk, he’s trail running in the Coast Mountains—always with bear spray.

The post 8 fierce animals show just how metal nature is appeared first on Popular Science.

In the Maricao State Forest on the western end of Puerto Rico, a biologist encountered a flock of parrots in a panic. Raúl Correa of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service followed the chaotic squawks and found a young bird in the grips of a red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor).

The snake had trapped a juvenile Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) on a bamboo stalk. Correa quickly sliced the bamboo, causing the snake to lose its grip and release the bird. USFWS observed the parrot after the incident to ensure it didn’t suffer any lingering injuries. Just a day later, the bird returned to flying with its flock.

Red-tailed boas are considered an invasive species in Puerto Rico. Native to South America, they came to the island in the 1990s through the illegal exotic pet trade. Without anything above it in the food chain, the snakes spread rapidly and have caused widespread damage to native wildlife populations, including the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot.

https://www.facebook.com/USFWS/posts/pfbid0fRJQr168YUxz4uzLjf4zrPPezcDHaQ7ixXa48RUgWeC9GeaFLuRLyQcNTGs2DY5zl

Puerto Rico is also home to a native boa (Chilabothrus inornatus) that is smaller in size. The native Puerto Rican Boa can grow up to 7 feet long. By contrast the invasive red-tailed boa can grow over 10 feet and has introduced viruses to native snake populations on the island, according to a 2023 study.

“Experience has shown that island ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to snake invasions, and unfortunately Puerto Rico has no natural predators that can keep the numbers of these prolific, snakes in check,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “Humans were responsible for introducing this scourge to the island, and are the only hope for mitigating the problem before it is too late for the native species.”

Different places have deployed a variety of tactics to remove invasive snakes species, including Florida that hosts an annual Python Hunt. The contest allows both amateur and professional hunters to kill invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) for prize money.

The post Young parrot rescued from grips of invasive boa snake appeared first on Popular Science.

During the still night above California’s Big Bear Valley, a meteor recently soared across the sky. Cameras stationed to document the lives of the area’s bald eagles captured an image of the fireball on its journey.

Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV), the non-profit that oversees the 24/7 livestream of the internet’s most famous bald eagles, shared the moment on Facebook with an emotional caption.

https://www.facebook.com/FOBBV/posts/pfbid027at986gqyAS2Vx5NbLuSXS1bMUudE7w2PPT5btRVVV4QQimpPCyWzPunSmoZTCxxl

“This morning in the wee hours, a quiet meteor flashed across the night sky. It moved at incredible speed, vanishing in the blink of an eye while the inhabitants of the valley slept,” FOBBV wrote. “This is another reminder of the beautiful land that our eagles and friends inhabit. Nature surrounds us everywhere; in the skies, in the trees, and beyond.”

This year has been an eventful year for Big Bear Valley’s bald eagles. In January, bald eagle mom Jackie laid two eggs that ravens attacked and consumed. She later laid a second clutch of two eggs that both hatched in April. Tens of thousands of fans followed the chicks’ journey as Jackie and her longtime partner Shadow raised the pair. All seemed well on the nest in July when it Jackie disappeared from the cameras’ views.

On July 17, Jackie was found injured on the ground near Dana Point Park, California. Cell phone video from a witness confirmed that she endured a scuffle with two subadult eagles. After being transferred to the Ojai Raptor Center for care, she was diagnosed with severe anemia. Her anemia worsened during the first week of August, and the Ojai Raptor Center reported that she was in unstable condition on August 9. Jackie died early in the morning on August 10. A memorial for Jackie was held this past weekend at Bear Mountain Ski Resort in Big Bear Lake, California.

During Jackie’s absence, another female eagle entered the picture: a 4 year old named Kaydee (originally named KD1). Since her arrival and Jackie’s death, Kaydee and Shadow have been spotted on FOBBV’s cameras sharing peaceful mornings, arranging nest sticks, and singing morning songs.

Shadow and Kaydee were not in the nest when the meteor passed overhead. Without eggs or chicks to care for, most bald eagles sleep in other trees like the nearby Roost Tree. According to FOBBV, the pair spent the morning moving from the Roost Tree to the Lookout Tree before settling to perch on the Twin Pines that afternoon.

It’s not clear what will happen between Shadow and Kaydee, but after an eventful year in Big Bear Valley, a moment of peace under a celestial light show is a welcome pause.

Tune into FOBBV’s livecams for glimpses of the duo.

The post Meteor spotted flying over bald eagle nest appeared first on Popular Science.

What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show.

FACT: We really have no idea why humans kiss 

By Rachel Feltman

This year’s Ig Nobel Prize in biomechanics went to researchers trying to answer a surprisingly complicated question: what’s a kiss? Their definition—”non-agonistic interactions involving directed, intraspecific, oral-oral contact with some movement of the lips/mouthparts and no food transfer”—was concocted to exclude such exchanges as ants feeding each other with their mouths, bees and birds vomiting at one another, and fish that fight by smashing their open jaws together. 

Defining a kiss might seem like a silly scientific endeavor, but it was a crucial first step for their research. Once they had definite criteria for a kiss in place, they went looking for that specific behavior in research about all sorts of primates. By mapping the appearance of kissing the same way they might map any other evolutionary adaptation, they came up with an estimation of how far back the trait could have evolved. The number they landed on is some 20+ million years. 

Listen to this week’s episode to hear more about the 2026 Ig Nobel winners, and to learn why kissing is such a mysterious—and unique—human behavior. 

FACT: The “American cheetah” wasn’t a cheetah at all 

Featuring Riley Black

This week’s episode features special guest Riley Black. Her new book, Tyrant Lizard Queen: The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore, comes out later this month. 

For her guest spot on this week’s Weirdest Thing, Riley decided to tell us all about the fastest—and perhaps fattest—cat in North America. 

For decades, paleontologists thought that an extinct cat called Miracinonyx evolved into a cheetah-like springer specifically to chase down North America’s speedy pronghorns. It was a tidy, romantic story of predator and prey evolving together in lockstep until one had gone extinct; it explained why pronghorns were so dang fast, too. But Riley always found the story a little fishy, and she wasn’t the only one: in 2023, researchers noted that these American cats had forearm bones more suited for grasping prey (cougar-style) than for running super fast (like a cheetah). 

New research has put another nail in the coffin of the “American cheetah.” For starters, their fossils were found as far north as the Yukon—where they wouldn’t have had any pronghorns to hunt. And based on their DNA, the researchers say, they’re much more closely related to modern pumas. They also had a unique diet: according to isotope analysis, the researchers think the Yukon-dwelling cats feasted on salmon. That leaves us with one big question: what were pronghorns running from?

FACT: Rich people love building little stone houses for themselves (to be dead in)

Featuring Amanda Reed

Old friend-of-the-pod Amanda came back to join us this week. She took us on a tour of mausoleum history. 

Walk into Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Cemetery, and you’ll find it hard to miss the sphinxes. They’ve got ample bosoms, appropriative headdresses, and nothing whatsoever to do with actual Egyptian funeral traditions. They’re actually monuments to the fortune (and ego) of the late industrialist Emil Winter. 

Emil, who got to move into these fancy digs in 1941, was not unique in desiring such an opulent postmortem dwelling. In fact, he decided to have it built after seeing a similar one by the same architect: the Woolworth family mausoleum in New York City. 

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about humanity’s enduring desire to build fancy houses for the deceased. 

The post Why did kissing evolve? If we want to find out, we’ve got to decide what counts as a kiss first.  appeared first on Popular Science.

The 2025 Fat Bear Week champion is back and ready to rumble (or at least eat a lot of fish). Bear #32, better known as Chunk, returned to view this week on the explore.org live cameras stationed throughout Katmai National Park in Alaska. With the kickoff of Fat Bear Week 2026 slated for Friday, his timing couldn’t be better.

Chunk reigned supreme in 2025, racking up 96,350 votes—30,000 more than second place finisher, Bear 856. Chunk is a fan favorite for his hefty size (estimated at more than 1,200 pounds) and distinct look. In addition to his narrow-set eyes, dark brown fur, large muzzle scar, and prominent brow ridge, Chunk also has misaligned the jaw. In 2025, he emerged from slumber and made an appearance at Brooks River with a noticeably broken jaw that rangers guessed was a result of a fight with another bear.

“Chunk proved immediately adaptable,” explore.org explained. “He adjusted his behavior to avoid most direct confrontations with other large male bears. He quickly learned to eat salmon without the full use of his mandible. Additionally, his large body size still gave him easy access to many productive fishing spots. He remains one of the largest bears at Brooks River.”

Despite the potential challenges of chomping on salmon with a broken jaw, Chunk persevered. Cameras first spotted him this season all the way back in April. Bears are not seen as frequently during the spring, so the early glimpse of Chunk walking across a patch of ice was exciting. Typically, Katmai bears emerge in June when the salmon run begins at Brooks River.

Chunk wasn’t always a fan favorite though. In 2024, he lost the Fat Bear Week crown for the second year in a row to mama bear Grazer. The two bears had been involved in an incident in which two of Grazer’s 2024 cubs were attacked by Chunk after falling over a waterfall. Grazer put up a fight against Chunk to defend her cubs, but one cub died after the encounter.

Tune in Friday, September 18, for the Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket reveal to see if Chunk will have the chance to defend his title. And you can always tune in to explore.org live cameras to see what our favorite chunky bears are up to.

---

When is Fat Bear Week 2026?

This year, Fat Bear Week begins on Tuesday, September 22, and a winner will be crowned on Tuesday, September 29. 

How can I vote?

Votes may be cast from noon to 9 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ADT)

from September 22 and 29 at fatbearweek.org.

Photographs comparing the bears from earlier in the summer and later in the summer will be shown, so voters can get an idea of just how much weight the bears put on during their salmon fest. An adult male bear can go from roughly 700 pounds in the early summer to over 1,200 pounds by fall. 

Voters are also encouraged to get familiar with each bear’s life history and the unique challenges they face to survive.

Which bears are competing this year?

The 2026 Fat Bear Week Bracket will be released on Friday, September 18. 

How can I support Katmai’s bears?

Donations can be made to Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund. The Otis Fund is named after Bear #480 (Otis), who won four Fat Bear Week titles before his death around 2024.  All donations made between September 22 and October 3 will be matched by explore.org. 

What happened with the bears this summer?

This year’s livestream featured an example of how wild (and upsetting to humans) nature can be. On Tuesday, July 28, cameras captured a young brown bear cub being killed and eaten by an unrelated mother bear (Bear #806).  

On Sunday, August 2, one of Bear #335’s (Jolly) cubs died, after following three unrelated cubs up a tree. The mother of the cubs already in the tree attacked Bear #335’s cub, who did not survive the encounter. The identity of the mother bear who killed the spring cub was not confirmed. 

Following the first cub’s death, naturalist Mike Fitz and park rangers Christine Loberg and Sarah Bruce said this likely the first documented case occurring at Brooks River. While there is no one answer as to why mother bears are killing cubs, some experts suspect bear adoption, food scarcity, and fights for dominance all play a role. 

Additionally, this year also saw the cub with silver-hued fur, a cub who hopefully learned important lesson about porcupine quill safety, the unique fishing stylings of Bear #164 (Bucky Dent), and Bear #284’s (Electra) family who can “walk on water.”

The post Big boy Chunk returns ahead of Fat Bear Week 2026 appeared first on Popular Science.

A brown bear cub learns a lot in its first year of life—how to fish, how to steer clear of trouble. Two curious cubs recently learned a valuable (and wet) lesson about the strength of currents.

At Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, home to Fat Bear Week, Bear #224 took her cubs on a journey near Brooks Falls. Early in summer, Brooks Falls is a hot spot for salmon munching by the park’s resident brown bears. By September, most bears move to the lower Brooks River to eat the dead and dying salmon near the river’s mouth.

As Bear #224 navigated the upper part of the falls with her two spring cubs, the young bears toddled up a rock and each hopped off. The strength of the current pulled the bears over the waterfall, despite their best efforts to paddle upstream. No other bears were present at the falls during the incident and mama bear eventually made her way down to join her cubs and move down river to calmer waters.

Brown bears are strong swimmers, moving up to 5mph in the water, according to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. They use all four legs to paddle and their body fat helps provide buoyancy. They also shake like dogs to remove excess water after a swim.

Fat Bear Week kicks off September 22. Votes may be cast from noon to 9 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ADT) from September 22 and 29 at fatbearweek.org.

The post Katmai bear cubs tumble over waterfall appeared first on Popular Science.

In French Polynesia, an adult seahorse floats in ocean waters alongside two juveniles. His head appears bowed, as the young fry look on curiously. The captivating black-and-white image (seen below) by photographer Julien Anton took top honors at the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year awards.

“Winning Ocean Photographer of the Year is an immense honour – one I’m proud to share with my family, and with the local residents, naturalists and fishermen of Tahiti and Moorea whose knowledge made this image possible,” Anton said in a statement. “We spent countless hours searching in difficult conditions, with no guarantee of finding a single seahorse. That is what made the moment so extraordinary – when the juveniles turned back towards the adult, it felt like something far beyond what I had dared to hope for. I am not a professional photographer; for me, photography is simply how I share what I see and feel. My hope is that this image can serve as a bridge between science, conservation and a world that deserves to know what is at stake.” 

The 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year competition celebrates Big Blue’s incredible beauty while also highlighting the urgent need to protect it in a rapidly changing world. The annual contest is co-presented by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain.

The post 16 splashy and spectacular images from the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year awards appeared first on Popular Science.

What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show.

FACT: Hector the tickle robot is real, and they’re spectacular 

By Rachel Feltman

Have you ever wondered why humans are so ticklish? While many animals experience a type of tickle known as knismesis—a sort of moving itch caused by motion against your skin—the laugh-out-loud sensation called gargalesis is way less common. It’s a phenomenon that’s pretty unique to primates (though it’s possible that rats are a bit ticklish as well). And while there are plenty of theories, no one has a great explanation for why this ticklishness evolved—or at least not one that would be easy to confirm.

But while the origins and purposes of gargalesis remain mysterious, that hasn’t stopped scientists from studying how tickling works. In one recent study scientists surveyed adults from several distinct cultures to see how they felt about tickling. The results were surprisingly universal. Participants from The Netherlands, Greece and China gave comparable answers about their history of tickling and being tickled and reported being ticklish in the same locations. That hints at a deep evolutionary origin for this sensation (and our feelings about it). 

This most recent study relied on survey data, but other research projects have tried to take a more quantitative look at tickles. That’s where Hector the tickle robot comes in. He’s designed to deliver a perfectly-calibrated foot tickle on command, allowing scientists to track exactly what physiological changes occur post-tickle and exactly when they kick in. He’s also helping scientists understand why we can’t tickle ourselves—and how that can help us survive unwanted tickling from others. Listen to this week’s episode to learn more!

FACT: How prickly ash and chili pepper combine to create a fascinating taste explosion 

Featuring Priya Mani

This week’s episode features special guest Priya Mani. She’s a food historian, award-winning writer, and a designer who leads research-driven projects on ingredients and flavor. She joined us this week to share some facts from her upcoming book, “Spiced: Recipes Celebrating Spices from Around the World.” You can preorder it now! 

Priya took us on a historical, culinary and scientific journey to explain why sichuan peppercorns (and other berries from various species of prickly ash) make your mouth buzz instead of burn. It all comes down to a compound called sanshool. 

When you eat food that’s spicy—think a hot chili pepper—the compound called capsaicin binds to the same receptors in your skin that are stimulated by actual heat. WHen these TRPV1 receptors get activated, they signal to your brain that something dangerously hot is touching you. 

You might associate szechuan peppercorns and other kinds of prickly ash berries with spicy food, but these fruits don’t actually contain any of the aforementioned capsaicin—so they don’t trick your brain into sensing heat. Sanshool can trick your brain in an entirely different way by acting on potassium channels, which are tiny pores that let potassium flow out of your nerve cells. By giving positively-charged potassium ions an easy exit, nerve cells are able to maintain a slightly-negative charge that keeps them from randomly firing.

Sanshool manages to block one of those potassium channels, which means positive charge starts to build and the nerve cell gets closer and closer to firing. The result is a hyperactive neuron that starts stuttering out little bursts of irregular signals. Your brain does the best it can to interpret that information, and the result is a sense that something is literally buzzing inside your mouth. 

That’s why dishes that combine prickly ash berries with chili peppers are infamous for creating a culinary sensation like no other: your brain is basically telling you that there’s a hot bee bouncing around your mouth. And gosh, that fiery insect is delicious. 

You can find more of Priya’s fantastic food science on Instagram.

FACT: These shark have teeth in their eyeballs

By Laura Baisas, News Editor and co-host of Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything podcast

While interviewing marine biologist, Jaida Elcock (@sofishtication_) an MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) PhD candidate and ace whale shark-tagger, she told me that whale sharks have teeth on their eyeballs. This sounded insanely painful to me, so I had to know more. 

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the biggest fish in the world. While their maximum size is still a mystery, they can grow as large as 60 feet and weigh about 11 tons. In addition to that girth, they really do have tiny teeth covering their eyeballs called dermal denticles. Dermal denticles themselves are found on several shark species and they cover their bodies like scales. They are small, V-shaped pieces and decrease drag and turbulence as they swim. While dermal denticles do help sharks swim faster, they also provide some defence against any other sharks that might try to take a bite of them

The dermal denticles on whale shark’s eyeballs, also called eye-teeth, likely help shield their eyes from the elements. A team in Japan first detailed this in a study published in 2020 in the journal PLOS One. They studied the eyes of both living and dead whale sharks and saw that a single whale shark eyeball could have over 3,000 dermal denticles around the eyes. They are also clustered around the iris.

Most sharks have poor eyesight, so much protection around their eyeballs means that their eyesight is likely pretty important for whale sharks. Evolution is cool. 

The post Yes, scientists really built a “tickle robot.” Here’s why. appeared first on Popular Science.

“Do you want a treat, Milton?” “Do you want to go for a walk, Bernie?” Annnnd, cue the head tilt from your dog.

Many dogs turn their heads, perk their ears, and stand at attention when their humans say certain words. But why? Well, it’s not just cute. There’s some serious science and fascinating theories about dogs’ ability to understand language. On the latest episode of Ask Us Anything, we explain how dogs’ head tilting likely makes your furry friend able to listen and process information better.

Ask Us Anything answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. So, yes, there’s a reason why is thunder so dang loud and no, cruise ships aren’t floating petri dishes. If you have a question for us, send us a note. Nothing is too silly or simple.

This episode is based on the Popular Science article “Why do dogs tilt their heads? It isn’t just cute.“

Subscribe to Ask Us Anything

Listen and follow Ask Us Anything on your favorite podcast platform:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Full Episode Transcript

Sarah Durn: You’re sitting on the couch and your dog is staring at you. So naturally, you start talking to them: “Do you wanna go for a walk?” 

And then it happens: Their ears shoot up, their eyes lock onto yours, and their head slowly tips to one side. 

So you try it again: “Do you want a walk?” And there it goes, the head tilts the other way.

But why does your precious Max do this? Why do dogs tilt their heads? Scientists still aren’t really sure why.

Welcome to Ask Us Anything, from the editors of Popular Science, where we answer your questions about our weird world, from “Why didn’t our ancestors need braces” to  “Do cats really hate water?” No question is too offbeat or mundane. 

I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Popular Science.

Annie Colbert: And I’m editor-in-chief, Annie Colbert.

SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering quirky questions.

AC: And this week, we’re wondering, why do dogs tilt their heads? So Sarah, tell us, why are our cute furry friends looking at us all askew?

SD: Well, scientists aren’t totally sure.

AC: Seriously? Something dogs do all the time, they don’t know why?

SD: I know, I know. There are a few theories out there, though. Maybe our pups are trying to hear us better.

AC: I guess that makes sense. I remember my dad used to kind of tilt his head when he didn’t have his hearing aids in.

SD: That might have just been a your dad thing. 

AC: Yes, probably.

SD: Yeah, there’s also a chance dogs are trying to get a better look at our faces.

AC: That also feels plausible.

SD: But there’s another possibility that’s a lot more interesting. 

AC: Ooh, okay.

SD: Researchers have found that some dogs are more likely to tilt their heads when they hear words they recognize.

AC: Wait, so they might be thinking?

SD: Maybe. That little head tilt could have something to do with how dogs pay attention to, and process, what we’re saying.

AC: Which somehow makes it even cuter.

SD: Right? So why do some dogs tilt more than others? What’s actually happening in their brains? And does your dog understand more of what you say than you realize?

AC: I must know.

SD: We’re gonna get into all of it. But before we do, we wanna hear from you. What questions are you head tilting, AKA thinking about?

AC: If there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, something that makes you tilt your head, submit your question by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask.

SD: Send us your questions.

AC: Yes. And coming up, we’ll dig into what might actually be going on when your dog does that adorable little head tilt.

SD: And what it could tell us about how much they really understand when we talk to them.

AC: That’s after this quick break.

SD: Welcome back. Annie, now before we get into the science, I feel like we have to establish our dog credentials here. So did you grow up with dogs?

AC: Yes. We always had at least one dog growing up, everything from mixed breed dogs to cocker spaniels named after various bread products. We had both a Muffin and a Biscuit at one point.

And then we had pugs, and I think I can confidently say that pugs were definitely the biggest head tilters.

SD: Mm.

AC: And I always assumed it’s just because they were perpetually confused by life.

SD: I mean, aren’t we all? I grew up with Saint Bernards.

AC: Hmm.

SD: So my family has had, oh, five. 

AC:Wow. 

SD: And my grandmother, who started the trend, actually had something like nine throughout her life.

AC: What? That’s so many.

SD: I know. I love Saint Bernards. And Saint Bernards, at least the ones I’ve gotten to know, are not huge head tilters.

AC: Hmm, interesting. Is it maybe because their heads are just too heavy to tilt?

SD: There is a lot of head to move for a Saint Bernard. Hmm.

AC: Yeah.

SD: But our newest puppy, Tartufo, we call him Tufo, is actually a little bit of a head tilter, and sometimes if you say a word he knows, he’ll look right at you and just tip.

AC: Aw. 

SD: I know, it’s so cute. I love him so much. He’s like a super sweet, like, expressive dog, so the head tilt just, you know, sends it over the edge.

AC: Love it.

SD: But here’s the really cool part: Tufo seems to head tilt more when he hears words he recognizes, and scientists think that might be a clue about what the head tilt actually means.

AC: All right, so what’s happening in that giant Saint Bernard brain?

SD: Potentially language processing.

AC: Excuse me?

SD: I know. Dogs have lived alongside humans for roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years, and over that time they’ve gotten remarkably good at dealing with this extremely weird thing humans do all day long.

AC: Talk at them.

SD: Constantly. And brain scans suggest dogs process parts of human speech in ways that are surprisingly similar to us. When a dog hears a familiar word, the left side of its brain becomes active, even if you change your tone of voice. But if you say an unfamiliar word using a familiar tone, the right side becomes more involved.

AC: So their brains are basically going, “Okay, I recognize that word,” versus, “I don’t know what you’re saying, but you sound excited.”

SD: Yeah, and that brings us to a 2025 study that basically asked, okay, where does the adorable head tilt fit into all of this? Researchers recruited 103 dog owners and had them film their dogs in four different situations.

First: Dog doing nothing.

AC: A challenging assignment for most dogs.

SD: Totally. Totally. And then second: Owner silently staring at dog.

AC: It’s kind of intimidating.

SD: Right. And then, this is my favorite: Owner talking to dog about ancient Egyptian civilization.

AC: Finally, that canine Egyptology study we were always waiting for.

SD: Exactly. I know everyone was on the edge of their seats. The idea was, you know, to give dogs speech that was neutral or unfamiliar. And then in the final and fourth condition, owners used familiar words with a warm, excited tone.

AC: Like, “Wanna go for a walk?”

SD: Exactly. And that is when the head tilt really showed up.

Dogs tilted much more often when their owners were saying familiar things in that enthusiastic, excited way.

AC: So they weren’t just reacting to the sound. Right.

SD: Courtney Sexton, one of the authors of the study, described it as a kind of communicative exchange. The dog isn’t necessarily going, “Ah, yes, I fully comprehend this sentence,” but something about you talking to them using words they know seems to make that little head go sideways.

AC: Which feels like watching the loading wheel appear over their little brains.

SD: Oh, yeah, totally. Like… Processing, processing, walk detected.

AC: Uh, that is exactly what it sounds like.

SD: Oh, yeah, 100%. And, you know, somehow this all gets a little weirder. Because researchers also noticed that most of the dogs who tilted went to the right.

AC: Huh. There’s a preferred head tilt direction? 

SD: Apparently. And there’s a possible brain connection here. Brains process sensory information contralaterally, which is a fancy way of saying that the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the body and vice versa. So one hypothesis is that a right head tilt could be connected to the dog engaging the left hemisphere of the brain, the side involved in processing familiar language.

AC: So we might literally be seeing the dog’s brain work.

SD: Maybe, but, you know, giant asterisk here. Researchers are not saying right tilt equals language happening. That part is still very much a hypothesis. The study also had another really weird result.

AC: What’s that?

SD: Male dogs tilted more often than female dogs, and when they tilted, male dogs leaned further to the right.

AC: Why are boy dogs so dramatic?

SD: Aren’t all guys, really? Scientists don’t really know why this is happening yet, but one possibility is that male and female dogs may use their brain hemispheres a little differently when processing language. But only around 40 of the 103 dogs in the study actually tilted at all, so the researchers are very cautious about drawing any sort of broad conclusion.

AC: All right. But dogs don’t only tilt their head when people talk to them, right?

SD: Right. And this is where our very satisfying head tilt equals language explanation gets messier. Another study found dogs tilting their heads after being startled by a jack-in-the-box.

AC: Okay, that’s a reasonable response to a jack-in-the-box.

SD: Yeah, extremely reasonable. And that suggests, though, that head tilting might have something to do with novelty or surprise, not just language. There’s even this possibility called cognitive offloading.

AC: Which sounds like something I need at the end of every workday.

SD: Oh my gosh, same. Um, yeah, basically we make a physical gesture while our brain is working something out. You furrow your brow, you exhale, you stare into space for five seconds while trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen. 

AC: Constantly. 

SD: Same. The head tilt could be a dog version of that, a little physical reset while their brain processes something new.

But Courtney Sexton from that study we talked about doesn’t think that explains the whole thing because in the 2025 experiment, the dogs tilted overwhelmingly during the social language condition.

AC: Okay, I have another scientific hypothesis. 

SD: Shoot. 

AC: Dogs know that the head tilt makes us powerless to their adorableness.

SD: That is actually an important scientific question.

AC: Called it.

SD: You did, because humans do rate head tilting dogs as cuter. But Sexton doesn’t think dogs are sitting there plotting, you know, “If I rotate my head 15 degrees, perhaps she’ll give me cheese.”

AC: But you cannot prove they’re not.

SD: Okay, fair, but there is a reason it absolutely destroys us.

During domestication, dogs develop something called neoteny, meaning adult dogs retain juvenile features like large eyes and soft facial proportions, basically permanent baby face, and humans are very, very responsive to baby face. So the head tilt isn’t necessarily designed to be cute. 

AC: We’re just helpless against it.

SD: Exactly. Which brings us back to the original question: why do dogs tilt their heads? And the slightly frustrating answer is: Scientists still don’t completely know. 

It could involve language processing, attention, surprise, maybe even that little physical reset while the brain figures something out. But the strongest evidence we have suggests that at least sometimes the head tilt is a visible sign that your dog is actively processing and responding to you.

So when Tufo hears a word that he knows and tilts his head, that enormous Saint Bernard brain may actually be hard at work. 

AC: Thinking important thoughts. 

SD: Extremely important thoughts. Probably mostly about snacks.

AC: Yes. But now I have a question. 

SD: Yes, go. 

AC: If we can use something like a head tilt to get a tiny glimpse into what a dog is thinking, can we actually tell how smart a dog is?

SD: Funny you should ask, because the internet has come up with some pretty questionable ways to test your dog’s IQ.

AC: All right, I’m intrigued.

SD: And scientists have some much better ones.

AC: Unsurprising.

SD: Unsurprising. Now, we have to take a quick break, but when we come back, we’ll explain how you can actually test your dog’s IQ.

AC: I mean, Tufo genuinely sounds like a genius.

SD: I mean, he is. I won’t argue with, with that at all.

AC: Welcome back. Okay, Sarah, before the break, you promised that we could actually put Tufo’s brain to the test.

SD: I did. Because we spent this whole episode talking about what his head tilt might tell us about what’s happening inside his brain, naturally the next question is how smart is my adorable little Saint Bernard?

AC: Little?

SD: He’ll always be a little puppy to me.

AC: Debatable. Anyhow, uh, I’ve seen a pet IQ test online called the wall test where you hold up your dog and you slowly move them toward a wall to see if they put their paws out.

SD: Yes, yes. I’ve seen that one, too, but I don’t think anyone’s lifting Tufo, and that might actually be a good thing because experts say you should not do the wall test.

AC: Really?

SD: Yes. Don’t do it. Whether a dog sticks out their paw actually has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s a neurological reflex vets use to check that a dog’s nervous system is working properly, kind of like when a doctor taps your knee and your leg automatically kicks.

AC: Hmm. So it’s not really an IQ test at all.

SD: No.

AC: But how do I find out if my dog is a genius?

SD: Well, obviously they are. But scientists would say that’s actually the wrong question.

AC: Rude.

SD: Because there isn’t one thing called dog intelligence. Some dogs are amazing problem solvers, some are great navigators, and some are especially good at reading us.

AC: Which feels especially relevant after an entire episode about dogs listening to us.

SD: Exactly. And you can test this even at home. Just grab two identical cups and a treat. While your dog isn’t looking, hide the treat under one cup, then put both cups down and either point at the correct cup or just look at it, and then let your dog choose which cup they’re drawn to.

AC: So if they pick up the right cup…

SD: They successfully read your social cue. That’s a skill called social cognition.

AC: Hmm. Genius.

SD: Good at one particular type of cognition.

AC: Or genius.

SD: Fine. Genius. All dogs are geniuses. Yeah. But if they choose the wrong cup or, you know, just wander off down the hallway, that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. Dogs have different strengths, and just like us, they have to actually be motivated to participate.

AC: So if my dog completely ignores my carefully designed scientific experiment…

SD: You might just need better treats.

AC: Fair.

SD: And I think that brings us right back to the head tilt. One cute little behavior cannot tell us exactly what’s happening inside our dog’s brain, alas.

But it can give us a clue and remind us that there’s a whole lot going on behind those puppy dog eyes.

AC: Even when it looks like there absolutely is not.

SD: Watch it.

And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And if you like our show, leave a rating and review.

AC: We care what you think. We care what your dogs think, geniuses or not. Our producer is Alan Haburchak, and this week’s episode was based on stories written for Popular Science by Nidhi Sharma and Clarissa Brinkett.

SD: Thank you, team, thank you, dogs, and thanks everyone for listening.

AC: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Keep the questions coming. Till next time, may your dog always listen when you call.

SD: May your pockets be full of sufficiently motivating treats.

AC: And may your dog’s head tilts always be ridiculously cute.

SD: Like, they can never not be. They’re always cute.

AC: Pugs, pugs, pugs. 

The post Why dogs tilt their heads, according to science appeared first on Popular Science.

While we have months to wait for the first images from the freshly-launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s other incredible observatories do not disappoint. The agency released a new collection of 16 galactic images taken with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. 

Galaxies are separated into three main categories—spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars. Spirals are like our own Milky Way and appear to spin around a central focus. Ellipticals are older galaxies and likely the results of mergers. Irregulars that can encompass a wide range of galactic phenomena. 

Spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars are all represented in this new collection. Each image hasX-ray data from Chandra, combined with data from other telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Hubble, IXPE, Swift, and NuSTAR, and others both in space and on the ground. Gaze into the galaxies in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

NGC 16-72

II Zw 096

M33

NGC 4258

NGC 1569

M90

Centaurus A

M104

Arp 143

NGC 4725

NGC 1385

NGC 660

M82

NGC 3256

NGC 3938

NGC 4631

The post 16 glistening galaxies shine in new images form NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory appeared first on Popular Science.

It’s a bird’s world, and we’re just living in it. Today, the National Audubon Society officially announced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards. The contest is now in its 17th year and celebrates stunning photos (and even a few videos) that showcase the beauty of birds and the challenges they face. For the second year, the judges awarded prizes to residents of Chile and Colombia, as well as the United States and Canada, highlighting how avians connect us across geographies and ecosystems. 

This year’s Grand Prize winners each received $5,000 and a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions—an expedition cruise company and Audubon’s exclusive cruise partner.

Take a peek at the winners in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

Prizes for United States and Canada Residents

Grand Prize: Jacqueline Burke, roseate spoonbill

Youth Prize: Ian Shultz, rock pigeon

Video Prize: Piper VanOrd, great blue heron

A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) at Allegheny Islands Wilderness, National Wild & Scenic Allegheny River, in Warren, Pennsylvania. Credit: Piper VanOrd.

Female Bird Prize: Gail Bisson, common merganser

Plants for Birds Prize: Mike Henry, Gila woodpecker and saguaro cactus

Birds Without Borders Prize: Nick Parayko, Tennessee warbler

Birds in Landscapes Prize: Liron Gertsman, white-tailed tropicbird

Conservation Prize: Josh Galicki, northern gannets

Prizes for Chile and Colombia Residents

Grand Prize: Francisco Castro Escobar, lesser horned owl

Youth Prize: Juan David Camacho Márquez, Canada warbler

Video Prize: Nicolás Muñoz García, black-browed albatross

A black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) is on Isla Chañaral Marine Reserve, Huasco Province, Chile. The nearest town is Caleta Chañaral de Aceituno. Credit: Nicolás Muñoz García.

Birds Without Borders Prize: Rodrigo González Pairoa, black-browed albatross

Conservation Prize: Santiago Pérez Rincón, yellow-eared parrot

Plants for Birds Prize, Colombia: Santiago Giraldo, yellow-eared parrot and Quindio wax palm

Birds in Landscapes Prize, Colombia: Faber Mosquera Álvarez, oilbird

Birds in Landscapes Prize, Chile: Timothy Dhalleine, crested caracara

Coastal Birds Prize, Chile: Gonzalo Bertolotto Quintana, gentoo penguin

The winners and honorable mentions are published online in Audubon magazine, and winners will be in the Fall 2026 print issue. The annual Top 100 photos will also be announced on September 23, 2026, and additional selections will be featured in digital galleries on Audubon’s website.  

The 2027 Audubon Photography Awards will open for entries on January 13, 2027. 

The post Tweet! Here are the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards appeared first on Popular Science.