Jesslyn Shields is a freelance science writer working out of Athens, Georgia. She writes about brand new research for HowStuffWorks. Since 2010, Jesslyn's written science news and content for educational videos, because she loves to always have something new to yammer on about at parties. You can find her online at www.jesslynshields.com
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The toughest animal in the world has just released its first sex tape, and as with all things water bear, things get pretty freaky.
Tarantulas are the largest spiders in the world and, believe it or not, some can live for up to 30 years.
The blobfish is actually pretty average looking in its normal habitat, but becomes a blob when it transitions from the pressure at depth to the water's surface.
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Is he a jolly little man in jammies or a monster carrying a sack of eyeballs? European legend says the Sandman is probably both.
SOS was the most commonly used distress signal from the turn of the 20th century until before WWII. But exactly what does SOS mean?
Bottle trees originated centuries ago in the Congo in West Africa and still hold a special spiritual place in the heart of the American landscape.
Panda populations are flourishing, and that's good news. But with the threats of infrastructure and livestock, can that trend last?
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These arachnids are aggressive, unbelievably fast and love to murder ants for no reason, but don't worry — they're harmless.
Thanks to new technology, researchers have discovered that the common swift flies 10 months a year without landing, setting a world record for uninterrupted time aloft.
Ninety percent of brown recluse bites don't have any effect at all — but the mythology around these creatures and their bites is legendary.
Is the "banana spider" you're looking at the one that sits around harmlessly catching flies, or could its bite kill a small child? If we rely solely on common names, this question is complicated.
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Piranhas are some of the most feared fish in the world, but is their reputation for ferocity a bit overblown?
The axolotl, a critically endangered species, can regenerate virtually any of its limbs or organs and has a face that's totally irresistible.
Hammerhead worms are toxic but not particularly dangerous — unless, of course, you eat too many of them.
When the Articles of Confederation failed, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 became a contest between large states and small states for equal representation.
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A zorse is one strange looking horse. That's because it's the product of a zebra stallion and a female horse.
Spiders not only eat more meat than humans every year, they also spend a lot of time getting eaten themselves.
The method this ancient carnivore employed is unlike anything we see in predators today.
The largest eagle in the world has a claw the size of a grizzly bear's, a leg the size of a human's and a very disapproving gaze.
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Geckos have abilities that definitely take lizardhood up a notch.
Sometimes organisms, thought to be long gone from the world, rise from extinction like Lazarus from the dead, though it is a rare occurrence.
The parrots of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco are legendary, but how did they get there?
Generations of cereal eaters grew up sharing the breakfast table with Toucan Sam, famous for following his long, colorful nose — but what's that bill for besides hawking cereal?
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Do non-human animals have equivalent categories to our A, B and O blood designations? Can animals donate blood?
Gastroliths, or "stomach stones," are found in animals from chickens to sea lions. But what are they for?