Because polar bear skin is black, it is able to easily soak up the heat. Once the skin is warm, the bears' fur then acts as an insulating layer, keeping the heat against their bodies.

Polar bears at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on April 13, 2001. Researchers say they have successfully made a synthetic version of polar bear fur that is not only lighter than cotton but also warmer.

Polar bears are well known for being able to survive in harsh and exceptionally cold climates. How they do so, however, used to be something of a mystery. Especially considering that polar bear fur is ...

You probably know polar bears as the big white animals roaming the Arctic, but there’s a lot about them that doesn’t make it into the usual stories. They deal with extreme cold, hunt in ways no other ...

That sunlight is then absorbed by the polar bear’s black skin, helping its body capture as much warmth as possible, with the fur then pulling double-duty as an excellent insulator.

Inspired by polar bears: this new textile creates an “on-body greenhouse” effect to keep you warm. (Courtesy: W Viola et al. ACS Appl. Mater.Interfaces 10.1021/acsami.2c23075). A new double-layered ...

Three engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have invented a fabric that concludes the 80-year quest to make a synthetic textile modeled on polar bear fur. The results, published ...

Polar bear fur also lacked a compound called squalene, the researchers found. Squalene is abundant in other marine mammals, and has properties that make ice stick to it easily.

Nano-physicist Bodil Holst's interest in polar bear fur began while she was watching a German quiz show. "I learned that polar bears are invisible in infrared cameras, meaning their fur has the ...

In North America, grizzly and black bears are most common. Knowing what to do when encountering a bear varies between types. Here's how to tell the difference.

Polar bear fur also lacked a compound called squalene, the researchers found. Squalene is abundant in other marine mammals and has properties that make ice stick to it easily.