August 10, 2016
New techniques to resolve old speculations: Who’s really responsible for Piltdown Man?
When the topic of ethics comes up in science classes, many educators rely on a gold-standard example of one instance when “science” went very wrong: That of Charles Dawson and Piltdown Man. (We refer to it...
August 1, 2016
Thirst may have doomed the last mammoths on a tiny Alaskan island
Woolly mammoths flourished during the last ice age, when they tromped across North America and Eurasia grazing on tundra plants. These massive animals disappeared from both continents between 14,000 and 13,200 years age, unable to withstand...
July 25, 2016
Astronomers discover a planet surviving in a strange system with three suns
At just four times’ the mass of Jupiter and a mere 580°C—hot enough to melt lead—a recently-discovered exoplanet is one of the smallest and coldest planets found outside our solar system. But what makes it really...
July 19, 2016
The buzz about nature vs. nurture in animal communication
Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales are buzzing about honeybee communication as they seek to discover if bees have regional accents. Bees have a repertoire of about 10 sounds that communicate different messages. Among these, their...
July 13, 2016
Fish, robots, and math help scientists understand how early animals crawled onto land
A robot named MuddyBot and six tiny fish have helped American scientists figure out how the first tetrapod animals moved from oceans onto land about 360 million years ago. According to the study published this month...
July 10, 2016
Gene drives: Application of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to combat insect-borne diseases
Lions and tigers and bears may be dangerous, but when it comes to killing humans the record goes to a much smaller animal. It’s the mosquito and it’s got public health officials pretty worried this summer...
July 4, 2016
New Visionlearning Design Launched
We’re excited to announce the launch of a redesigned Visionlearning site. It has a fresh look, but with the same excellent content for teaching and learning science. One new feature you’ll see on the site are...
July 3, 2016
CRISPR craze: Applications of genome editing
CRISPR-Cas9 genetic editing is in the news a lot, especially in connection with concerns that it will usher in an era of designer babies. The capability for editing the genome of human embryos for non-medical purposes...
June 27, 2016
New insights into a tiny mite’s appetite may help scientists protect honeybees
For the tiny Varroa mite, a honeybee colony is like a buffet with all your favorite foods. There are tender pupae, newly-emerged adults, middle-aged nurse bees, and grizzled, three-week-old foragers. With all those options, which bee’s...
June 20, 2016
Natural corridors may help species adapt to climate change
Imagine you’re sitting around a fire and someone throws on another log. It bursts into flames and soon, your seat gets too hot for your liking. What do you do? You move, right? That’s exactly what...
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