Boston’s Pigeons Coo, ‘Wicked’; New York’s Birds Coo, ‘Fuhgeddaboudit’
The two cities’ rock doves are genetically distinct, research shows.
Stories by Karen Hopkin
E-Eggs Track Turtle Traffickers
Decoy sea turtle eggs containing tracking tech are new weapons against beach poachers and traffickers.
Baby Bees Deprive Caregivers of Sleep
Bee larvae and pupae appear to secrete a chemical that does the work of a late-night cup of coffee for their nurses.
Eye Treatment Stretches Mouse Sight Beyond Visible Spectrum
Nanoparticles that attach to photoreceptors allowed mice to see infrared and near-infrared light for up to two months.
Why Some Easter Island Statues Are Where They Are
Many of the statues not along the coast are in places that featured a resource vital to the communities that lived and worked there.
In Bee Shortage, Bubbles Could Help Pollinate
Soap bubbles are sticky enough to carry a pollen payload and delicate enough to land on flowers without harm.
Can People ID Infectious Disease by Cough and Sneeze Sounds?
Individuals aren’t very good at judging whether someone coughing or sneezing has an infectious condition or is simply reacting to something benign.
3 Words Mislead Online Regional Mood Analysis
Analyzing keywords on Twitter can offer a loose measure of the subjective well-being of a community, as long as you don’t count three words: good, love and LOL.
Skinny Genes Tell Fat to Burn
A gene whose mutated form is associated with cancer in humans turns out to have a role in burning calories over a long evolutionary history.
Virus-Infected Bees Practice Social Distancing
Bees infected with a virus cut back on interactions within their hive but find it easier to get past sentries at neighboring hives.
Fight-or-Flight Nerves Make Mice Go Gray
A new study in mice concludes stress can cause gray hair—and credits overactive nerves with the change in hue. Karen Hopkin reports.
Espresso May Be Better when Ground Coarser
A very fine grind can actually hamper espresso brewing, because particles may clump more than larger particles will.
Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent
Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
Curiosity Killed the ... Mouse?
The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii boosts curiosity in mice—which makes them more likely to be caught by cats, thus continuing the parasite’s life cycle. Karen Hopkin reports...
Famously Fickle Felines Are, in Fact, Clingy
Cats are clingier to their human owners than their reputation would suggest. Karen Hopkin reports.
Monogamy May Be Written in Our Genes
In animal studies, a set of 42 genes involved in neural development, learning and memory, and cognition seems to be associated with monogamy
Certain Personality Types Are Likely to Make a “Foodie Call”
Some people go on dates just to score a free meal—a phenomenon known as a “foodie call.” But it takes a certain personality type. Karen Hopkin reports.
Male Bats Up Mating Odds With Mouth Morsels
Males that allow females to take food right out of their mouths are more likely to sire offspring with their dining companions.
Elite Runners’ Microbes Make Mice Mightier
Mice that were fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt.
Monkey Cousins Use Similar Calls
Two monkey species who last shared a common ancestor 3 million years ago have "eerily similar" alarm calls.
