How Robins Became the Birds of Christmas
It's time to wind things down for Christmas, so what better way to do it than to write a short article about robins. And here I mean the `original' or `proper' robin - the European robin Erithacus rubecula - a Eurasian passerine that also occurs in northern Africa and is (conventionally) regarded as the only [...]
Could Extinct Clouded Leopards be Reintroduced in Taiwan?
Two years ago, after an intense 13-year quest, scientists concluded that the Formosan clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa brachyura) had gone extinct in Taiwan.
Male Praying Mantids Have a Strategy For Not Being Eaten by Their Mates
We usually think about male and female mates getting along pretty well (that's `mate' in the biological sense, not your friendly British/ Australian friend).
How Pearlfish Use Oysters as Underwater Amplifiers for Communication
A new study has revealed how marine pearlfish communicate with each other from the confines of their very safe and comfy homes inside oysters – they use the internal structure of the shell to amplify their strange, pulsing noises to the ocean outside.
Beyond "The Pipeline": Reframing Science's Diversity Challenge
One of the most commonly used metaphors for describing the solution for growing and diversifying America's scientific talent pool is the "STEM pipeline." Major policy reports have called on the U.S.
Bacterial Motors Come in a Dizzying Array of Models
Bacteria propel themselves with corkscrew tails anchored in rotary motors. That may seem surprisingly mechanical for a microbe, but it is a system that has been wildly popular and conserved across billions of years of evolution.
Another Northern White Rhino Dies, Only 5 Remain
And then there were five. The death by old age this past weekend of Angalifu, a 44-year-old northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) that lived at San Diego Zoo, reduces the world population of this critically endangered subspecies to just five, all of which live in captivity and none of which are breeding.
Butt-Breathing Turtle Now Critically Endangered
Few reptiles can breathe underwater. Australia is home to one of the exceptions, the white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula), which can extract oxygen from water through its backside via a process called cloacal respiration.
Let's Expand Terrestrial Parks into the Ocean
"A land ethic," the great naturalist writer Aldo Leopold observed toward the end of his famous Sand County Almanac, "reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of land." This philosophy of care for the earth's ecosystems and species provides one of the [...]
10 Original Gifts for Science and Art Geeks
It’s time again for me to offer up a few quirky gift ideas for the science enthusiasts in your life. I guarantee these will be the most original gifts under the tree!
E.O. Wilson's Thrilling Prophecy of "Paradise" on Earth
Edward Wilson has earned the right to title his latest book The Meaning of Human Existence, which coming from almost any other author would sound laughably pretentious.
25 Years After Montreal Massacre, Women in Science Still Face Threats
Twenty-five years ago today, on December 6, 1989, in Montreal, fourteen women were murdered for being women in what their murderer perceived to be a space that rightly belonged to men: Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student Barbara Daigneault (born [...]