 New research this week has revealed that pigeons know precisely what they’re doing when they poop on people’s heads. Okay, not really. But the intelligence gap between people and non-human animals is getting narrower all the time, and pigeons are the latest species to demonstrate that in a lab. Edward Wasserman, an experimental psychology professor [...]
 Mostly, I just wanted to share this image because I think it’s beautiful, especially once you know what it represents. This is the branched network of nerves that communicate with a small muscle in the head of a mouse, connecting the base of the ear to the top of the skull. Researchers want to [...]
At first, last week’s announcement that black coats in wolves come from interbreeding with dogs didn’t interest me that much. I have a long-time fondness for wolves, and I don’t particularly care what color they are. But from a gee-whiz biology perspective, the finding actually is pretty interesting. Also, the news was a chance to take a [...]
The news about oceans was pretty grim last week, but there is hope. Most of the world’s fishing countries are reneging on their agreements to fish responsibly and sustainably. Despite harvest restrictions in the Delaware Bay, plummeting horseshoe crab populations are leaving their migratory bird predators high and dry. In a climate change scenario, the poorest fishing [...]