The Ants, They’re Everywhere

Researchers at the Universities of Hong Kong and Würzburg, Germany have addressed a question that no one asked, “How many ants are there on Earth?” The answer: 20 quadrillion. It’s difficult to grasp the enormity of such a number. The authors of the study that painstakingly added up the ants call it “20 thousand million millions, or in numerical form, 20,000,000,000,000,000 (20 with 15 zeroes).” The researchers warn that figure is a “conservative” estimate.

Hyraxes Rock and the Babes Flock

Researchers observing the sex lives of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) have learned what we all suspected to be true: the best musicians get the girl. According to the study published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, males that sing the most and with rhythm have the best reproductive success.