Neuroscience
Brain Sides Are Both Busy in New Language Learning
A study of adults learning a new language found that speaking primarily activated regions in the left side of the brain, but reading and listening comprehension were much more variable
Stories by Susanne Bard
Biology
This Bat Wears a Face Mask
The wrinkle-faced bat covers its face with a flap of skin, seemingly as part of its courtship rituals.
EARTH
Duckbill Dino Odyssey Ended in Africa
A duckbill dinosaur jawbone found in Morocco means that dinosaurs crossed a large body of water to reach Africa.
Evolution
Play Helped Dogs Be Our Best Friends
The ancestors of today’s dogs already exhibited some playfulness, which became a key trait during domestication.
Environment
Blue Whale Song Timing Reveals Time to Go
Blue whales off California’s coast sing at night—until it’s time to start migrating, and they switch to daytime song.
Conservation
Cows with Eye Images Keep Predators in Arrears
Butterflies, fish and frogs sport rear-end eyespots that reduce predation. Painting eye markings on cows similarly seems to ward off predators.
Policy & Ethics
Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications
Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.
Arts & Culture
Old Art Offers Agriculture Info
Art museums are filled with centuries-old paintings with details of plants that today give us clues about evolution and breeding practices.
Public Health
Civil War Vaccine May Have Lessons for COVID-19
Vaccination used against smallpox during the Civil War reveals the identity of the distantly related virus used to keep troops disease-free.
Biology
Sparrow Song Undergoes Key Change
White-throated sparrows made a change to their familiar call that quickly spread across Canada.
Mental Health
Helping Kids Cope with COVID-19 Worries
The psychological state of children may need special attention during COVID-19 impacts and isolation.
Medical & Biotech
Donut Sugar Could Help Stored Blood Last
Dehydrated blood that could be kept at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts—and made by tardigrades and brine shrimp so they can dry out and spring back with water...
Cognition
Horses Recognize Pics of Their Keepers
Horses picked out photographs of their current keepers, and even of former keepers whom they had not seen in months, at a rate much better than chance.
Conservation
Birds on Rhinos’ Back Help Them Avoid Poachers
Oxpeckers riding on rhinoceroses feast on ticks, and their calls warn the nearsighted herbivores about approaching humans.
Biology
Squid’s Glowing Skin Patterns May Be Code
Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate.
Evolution
City Birds: Big-Brained with Few Offspring or Small-Brained with a Lot
To make it in urban areas, birds tend to be either large-brained and able to produce few offspring or small-brained and extremely fertile. In natural habitats, most birds brains are of average size...
Evolution
Tiny Wormlike Creature May Be Our Oldest Known Ancestor
The bilateral organism crawled on the seafloor, taking in organic matter at one end and dumping the remains out the other some 555 million years ago.
Biology
Swamp Wallaby Reproduction Give Tribbles a Run
They’re not born pregnant like tribbles, but swamp wallabies routinely get pregnant while pregnant.
Environment
Stress from Undersea Noise Interferes with Crab Camouflage
In an example of how sea noise can harm species, exposed shore crabs changed camouflaging color sluggishly and were slower to flee from simulated predators.
Environment
Indigenous Amazonians Managed Valuable Plant Life
Studies on very old vegetation in the Amazon basin show active management hundreds of years ago on species such as Brazil nut and cocoa trees.
