Science Update
Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS
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.
Opossums and snakes are locked in a battle of evolutionary proportions.
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.
Differences in a gene influence how much time we spend looking at happy faces.
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.
Some of the world’s most forbidding environments occur right in our own homes, but microorganisms are finding a way to colonize them.
Promiscuity-related genes in finches may exist to exist solely to benefit males.
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?
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.
Scientists are sequencing the genomes of thousands of insect species.
The genes behind unfaithful finches, mapping the diversity of bird plumage colors, what feathers can tell us about pollution, and what baby birds drink. Also: could living with a dog or cat decrease a child's risk of developing allergies?
Evidence from ancient teeth suggests that most Neanderthals were right-handed, like us.
A “master regulator” gene in fat tissue may affect diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, and other conditions.
We may owe our large brains in part to the earliest mammals’ sense of smell.
What reindeer can see that we can't. How some blind people are using echolocation to navigate the world. And, how the retinas of deaf people change their experience of the world. Also: better noses spelled bigger brains for ancient mammals, and: what the teeth of Neanderthals tell us about their hands.
Tarantulas produce life-saving silk from their feet.
A starfish without arms makes scientists rethink how they classify animals.
A hormone called ghrelin enhances our sense of smell and increases appetite.
Genetically engineered bacteria could help ferry drugs to where they’re needed most in the body.
A new study suggests that to keep birds from crashing into manmade objects, we need to stop treating them like humans with wings.
