Thousands of years ago, the Earth went through a warming phase that rivaled the drama of modern climate change predictions. And at least one species adapted its diet to survive. Between 18,000 and 10,000 years ago, an ice age was ending. Juniper trees vanished from what is now the Mojave Desert, in the southern reaches [...]
“Bird brain” might not be the worst insult you can hurl at someone. It turns out birds notice and can respond to the human gaze. Hand-raised jackdaws (relatives of crows, ravens and jays) were found in a study to avoid food if an unfamiliar person was looking at it, thought to be a response to [...]
Surely I’m not alone in those moments when the burger is a little too pink, and I’m thinking: this could be the one. This could be the burger that’s harboring those mysterious little prions, and they’ll worm their way into my brain and start eating. I’ll forget things, insignificant, random things at first, as the [...]
Termite kings are fine for fathering the workers, but when it comes to producing daughters, the queen‘s got it under control, thanks … That’s the new finding from researchers in Raleigh, North Carolina and Japan, embellished with my romantic cynicism. Scientifically speaking, here are the goods: the researchers have shown for the first time that it is possible [...]
The news was mixed for birds this week, with the appearance of the 2009 “State of the Birds” report — a collaborative effort of the Audubon Society, U.S. Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy and a host of other groups. They’ve found that habitat destruction and loss are still wreaking havoc on birds that live in [...]
