Studying whales with high-tech tools

Scanning the airwaves over Monterey Bay with a hand-held antenna, Stanford University researchers listen for blue whales—or, more precisely, they listen for the suction tags they've stuck on blue whales. The first beep ...

Human handling stresses young monarch butterflies

People handle monarch butterflies. A lot. Every year thousands of monarch butterflies are caught, tagged and released during their fall migration by citizen scientists helping to track their movements. And thousands of caterpillars ...

Researchers report first recording of a blue whale's heart rate

Encased in a neon orange plastic shell, a collection of electronic sensors bobbed along the surface of the Monterey Bay, waiting to be retrieved by Stanford University researchers. A lunchbox-sized speck in the vast waters, ...

Faster heartbeat helps deer mice to survive at high altitudes

Mice living at high altitudes in the American West carry a genetic variant that increases their heart rate, helping them cope with the low oxygen levels that occur at high elevations. Rena Schweizer of the University of Montana ...

Bone, not adrenaline, drives fight or flight response

When faced with a predator or sudden danger, the heart rate goes up, breathing becomes more rapid, and fuel in the form of glucose is pumped throughout the body to prepare an animal to fight or flee.

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