Re-Awakened Plants
Plants that were frozen in glaciers 400 years ago are growing again as those glaciers melt away.
Turtle Shell Evolution
A 260 million-year-old fossil could be the ancestor of turtles.
Brainy Baby Seals
Weddell seal pups survive infancy with the help of surprisingly large brains.
Podcast for 31 May 2013
EAT OR BE EATEN - Cannibal baby sharks, ladybugs that eat other ladybugs, and monkeys that adopt the local cuisine. Also: how baby seals learn to hunt. And, why global warming could turn snowshoe hares into easy prey.
Preventing Progeria
Scientists have identified an enzyme that could be responsible for one of the rarest childhood diseases of all.
Irish Potato Famine Origins
Scientists have identified the genetic variant of the fungus-like organism responsible for setting off the Irish Potato Famine.
Arthropod Roundup
Greater wax moths have evolved the ability to hear sounds at frequencies even their predators can't detect.
Shark Siblicide
Unborn baby sharks gobble up their brothers and sisters in the womb.
Insect-Inspired Camera
The compound eyes of insects have inspired the design of a new camera.
Podcast for 10 May 2013
EYES, EARS & THE BRAIN - How short-term hearing loss protects the ears. The brain's number hotspot. And: could lasers wipe out cocaine addiction? Also: A nanosponge that soaks up toxins in the body.
Changing Hare Color
Climate change could make snowshoe hare camouflage less protective.
Reviving Extinct Species
Using frozen DNA, researchers have created early-stage embryos of an extinct frog.
Podcast for 5 April 2013
LESSONS FROM THE DEAD - Scientists attempt to bring back an extinct frog. Mummies showing signs of heart disease make researchers rethink assumptions about lifestyle and diet. The mysterious death zone within African "fairy circles" explained. Also: a miniature laboratory under the skin monitors blood chemistry.
Podcast for 29 March 2013
EARLY HEALTH - A molecule that could make it possible to jumpstart the newborn immune system. Why too many brain cells could be a bad thing. And, could humidity affect flu transmission? Also: The effects of sleep deprivation on your genes.
Fragile X Neurons
Fragile X Syndrome, a leading genetic cause of intellectual impairments, may actually result from too much brain activity.
Sleep & Gene Expression
Just one week of sleep deprivation alters the expression of at least 711 different genes.
Bird Roundup
Cliff swallows are evolving rapidly in response to an urban environment.
Arctic Camels
Camels seem perfectly suited to life in the desert, but they may have evolved those traits in the high Arctic.
Podcast for 15 March 2013
An ancient pigment with futuristic applications, the hidden electricity between flowers and bees, and a new, improved anti-fog coating. Also: the unlikely history of camels.
New Genetics Roundup
Scientists discover shared genetic markers for five common psychiatric disorders.
Alcohol Origins
Did our ability to digest alcohol first emerge at the dawn of civilization or millions of years earlier?
Ancient Whales
A newly discovered but long-extinct whale species may have eaten sharks.
Podcast for 8 February 2013
MICROBIAL LIFE - How antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread, tracing HIV back millions of years, and how life thrives among the storm clouds. Also, a listener's question about the common cold.