Wildlife

Legislation adopting the bison as the U.S. national mammal passed the House and Senate this week. Now it’s waiting for President Obama’s signature.

The first sighting of wood bison calves born in the wild could mean big changes in the ecosystem of western Alaska.

Federal agencies say the changes are necessary to better align hunting regulations with federal management objectives. Hunters have countered that there is no biological justification for the restrictions, and that the changes are purely political.

Imagine a king crab, living the good life. He’s minding his own business, happily scavenging the bottom of the ocean for food with his fellow crabs, when all of a sudden he’s attacked and infected. The infection eventually castrates him and takes over his body.

A POW tribal group has been awarded a federal grant to help gather data used to determine that number.

Being an astrophysicist, I didn’t have the slightest clue about the answer, says Adam Frank, but — lucky for us all — 13.7’s own Barbara J. King has spent a lot of time studying just this question.