Sable Nakamura
Wildlife CorrespondentFormer field biologist who spent three years tracking wolves and now tracks facts about the animal kingdom. Firm believer that animals are weirder than aliens.
Articles by Sable Nakamura
Thousands of Bumblebee Catfish Just Rewrote What Scientists Thought They Knew
Scientists witnessed bumblebee catfish scaling Brazilian waterfalls by the thousands—a mass migration behavior no one knew existed until now.
Your Cat's Parasite Might Be Making You Angry
People infected with toxoplasma gondii are twice as likely to develop explosive rage disorder. A brain-hijacking parasite evolved to manipulate rodents may be doing the same to humans.
African Apes Are Habitual Day Drinkers—And May Have Been for 30 Million Years
Wild chimpanzees and other African apes deliberately consume fermented fruits to get drunk, a behavior that may explain why humans are so tolerant of alcohol.
A Dog's Nose Knows Parkinson's Disease Better Than Your Doctor's Tests
Trained dogs can sniff out Parkinson's disease with 98% specificity—catching it years before symptoms appear. No blood test does that.
Magpies Are Self-Aware—And They Didn't Need a Cortex to Get There
Magpies pass the mirror self-recognition test, but their brains evolved self-awareness using completely different structures than mammals. This rewrites what neuroscience thought was necessary for consciousness.
A Meerkats and Hyenas Speak the Same Behavioral Language
Animals separated by thousands of miles and millions of years of evolution follow identical patterns when switching between daily tasks. Scientists found the same mathematical rules governing behavior across species.
A Wolf Just Out-Smarted Scientists by Solving a Crab Trap
A coastal Canadian wolf pulled a submerged crab trap from the ocean using rope and buoy—a feat that rewrites what we thought wolves could do.
Wild Chimps Are Day Drinkers—And Have Been for 30 Million Years
New research reveals wild chimpanzees consume the equivalent of 2-3 alcoholic drinks daily from fermented fruit, upending our assumptions about ape behavior and human exceptionalism.
Octopuses Learn by Watching Other Octopuses—Even Though They Barely Interact
Octopuses can copy behaviors by observing others, a cognitive trick scientists thought required social animals. Yet these loners spend almost no time together and die before teaching their young.
Your Dog's Nose Is Better at Diagnosing Parkinson's Than Your Doctor's Blood Test
Trained dogs can detect Parkinson's disease from skin swabs with 98% accuracy—years before symptoms appear. Here's why your pet's sense of smell is outperforming modern medicine.