Science Update
Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS
Insect populations are declining worldwide, and insect species are becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate. Before you say “Yay!” and perform your (unique and impressive) end zone dance, you should know that insects that plague humans– like mosquitoes, cockroaches, bedbugs, and fleas– are doing quite well, thanks to the warming planet, our willingness to transport …
If you love bugs, there’s a lot to love: Insects and other small terrestrial arthropods (aka, bugs) are the most numerous and diverse organisms on Earth. Just one group– beetles– consists of over 350,000 known species, four times more than species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish combined. So it seems strange that scientists …
Bees the world over would rejoice if everyone knew just two things about them: what they aren’t, and what they are. 1. What they aren’t. If you’ve been stung, it was probably courtesy of yellow jackets, bee-like wasps whose primary purpose in life is to make bees look bad. They’re shaped kind of like honeybees …
A Fond Farewell to the Brood X Invasion. In the spring of 2021, everyone lucky/cursed enough to live east of Illinois, south of New York and north of Georgia, enjoyed/barfed up over one of the “Seven Insect Wonders of the World”: the emergence of the 17-year periodical cicadas. These insects swarm out into the sunshine …
Insects and other assorted creepy crawly critters can help inspire student learning, not only in the life sciences, but in physics and engineering as well. Fruit flies studies are at the heart of genetics research; migratory butterflies and dragonflies inspire aeronautical engineering; bombardier beetles are at the heart of jet engine designs; spiders and silkworms …
