Science Update
Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS
EVOLUTION & EXTINCTION - What really happened to Australia's missing megafauna, how carnivores lost their sweet tooth, why lovelorn fruit flies resort to alcohol, strategic miscarriages in monkeys, and a new frog species is discovered in plain sight.
Ancient horses shrank when global temperatures rose.
NEW MEDICINE - A rare mutation that protects people from diabetes and cancer. How the pancreas "tastes" sugar. And a new implantable microchip that delivers an osteoporosis drug. Also: chimpanzees may yawn for the same reason humans do.
Both humans and chimpanzees can’t resist the urge to yawn when others do.
ALL ABOUT LANGUAGE - Neuroscientists are beginning to reconstruct what we've heard by listening to brainwaves, how scientists measure language delays around the world, using technology to keep endangered languages vibrant, and a musical instrument that allows you to sing...with your hands, Also: decoding the secret language of worms.
Nematode worms have a surprisingly complex communication system.
One key to our successful long-term relationship with dogs may lie in the eyes.
Rhesus macaque monkeys become kinder after inhaling the hormone oxytocin.
ANIMALS & PEOPLE - Levitating flies, what dogs and babies have in common, how oxytocin makes kinder, gentler monkeys, a fish that mimics an octopus that mimics a fish, and how bats hear with both sides of the brain.
When an Indonesian octopus mimics poisonous fish, a smaller fish takes advantage.
Like humans, bats process some types of sounds on the right side of their brains and other sounds on the left side of their brains.
SOUNDS & SENSES - Researchers replay some of the first audio recordings ever made. Chimpanzees, like humans, associate certain sounds with certain colors. Can your posture affect how you perceive numbers? Pigeons that learn to count. And spiders with brainy legs.
Researchers have discovered what makes buttercups so shiny.
Like humans, chimpanzees associate high-pitched sounds with bright colors and low-pitched sounds with dark colors.
New research suggests that pigeons, like monkeys, can count.
Some spiders' brains are so big they spill over into their legs.
Some of the most potent antibiotics and insecticides come from animals. Researchers have identified some promising new candidates, derived from ants and frogs.
BEHAVIOR, ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT - why dirty laundry could be damaging the environment, how to make wine growing compatible with wildlife, what the Monarch butterfly genome can tell us about their epic migrations, and how wasps see faces.
A drug that cuts of the blood supply to fat cells resulted in significant weight loss in obese monkeys.
Paper wasps, which can recognize each other, seem to process faces in ways similar to humans.
New uses for DNA fingerprinting include tracking deadly tse-tse flies and identifying species from ancient soil samples.
Scientists have sequenced the Monarch butterfly’s genome, to better understand its epic migrations.
THE BRAIN, MOOD & BEHAVIOR - Could dreaming help heal emotional wounds? The relationship between the placebo effect and chronic pain. New research into the genetics of empathy. Also: a computer program to help prevent depression in girls, and exploring sex differences in mood disorders.
The giant beaver went extinct about 10,000 years ago, but it left behind clues to the sounds it may have used to communicate with.
