Electric Dolphins
One dolphin species hunts by detecting the electricity given off by its prey.
Blood Sucker Roundup
Diseases spread by mosquitoes plague millions of people. But what if people could make mosquitoes sick instead?
Dolphin Healing
Dolphins heal remarkably well after massive shark bites, and scientists want to know how they do it.
Problem-Solving Lizards
Some lizards can solve problems as well as birds and mammals.
Plant Sonar
A Cuban plant has acoustically-enhanced leaves that help pollinating bats find it in the dark.
Podcast for 5 August 2011
BATS & DOLPHINS: Dolphins that heal themselves, and dolphins that use electroreception in addition to echolocation. Also, How vampire bats find their prey, and how a Cuban plant takes advantage of a bat's ability to echolocate.
Backyard Roundup
Opossums and snakes are locked in a battle of evolutionary proportions.
Podcast for 29 July 2011
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS - Fossil anatomy sheds light on whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded, why some lizards are smarter than you think, opossums and snakes locked in a deadly arms race, and why frogs don't lose their grip.
Killer Whale Microphone
An underwater microphone takes inspiration from the ears of killer whales.
Loudest Animal
The mating calls of an insect called the water boatman are much louder than expected given the bug’s diminutive size.
Comfort Food Hormone
A hormone called ghrelin is a key part of how stress triggers mice to seek out fatty food.
Bat Navigation
Bats have tiny hairs on their wings that help them maneuver in complete darkness.
Podcast for 15 July 2011
THE SCIENCE OF FACES: when pigeons look at us, and the genes behind how we look at faces. Also: what causes hot flashes, determining your age from your DNA, and the hormone behind stress eating.
Appliance Roundup
Some of the world’s most forbidding environments occur right in our own homes, but microorganisms are finding a way to colonize them.
Promiscuous Finches
Promiscuity-related genes in finches may exist to exist solely to benefit males.
Double Dolphin Sonar
Using precision instruments, scientists have discovered a second dolphin echolocation signal previously unknown to science.
Podcast for 8 July 2011
NOISE & NAVIGATION: Bats maneuver in the dark with the help of microscopic wing hairs, researchers expose a dolphin's secret sonar, killer whale ears inspire better microphones, and how a tiny bug with a big sound has eluded biologists for centuries. Also: Do humans have an internal compass?
Podcast for 1 July 2011
A failing grade for fat substitutes, a master regulator gene for fat, a brainwave that helps control memory, and turning skin cells into brain cells.
Reindeer Vision
Reindeer can detect ultraviolet light with their retinas, which may help them survive dark Arctic winters.