(38) results in Blog
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...
June 12, 2016
Searching for Life on Other Worlds: Overview of Missions
Astrobiology is a cherished topic in the science news. Many people love considering questions of what extraterrestrial life might be like, what it might have in common with Earth life, and how it might be different....
May 9, 2016
How moths trick bats with their own sonar
If you’re a big, delicious insect like the luna moth, how can you escape a predator like the big brown bat? You can’t outfly bats. Your beautiful, light-green wings span up to 4.5 inches, but they...
April 3, 2016
Tyrannosaur tracks show scientists how fast an ancient predator could move
Just north of the town of Glenrock, Wyoming, a stretch of ancient yellow sandstone is studded with a killer’s footprints. About 66 million years ago, a Tyrannosaurus rex strode through the wet sand of what was...
November 25, 2015
Turkey science: What’s on your plate?
The 45 million turkeys that end up on the Thanksgiving table are nothing like their wild ancestors. In fact, they are very different from the typical Thanksgiving turkeys of even half a century ago, according to...
September 25, 2015
The science behind sage grouse conservation
The greater sage grouse. (Credit: Bureau of Land Management via Flickr) On Sept. 22, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the greater sage grouse — a chicken-sized bird that inhabits the open ranges of...
August 18, 2015
The birth of a cultural meme: the “do not disturb” gesture in Mandrills
Cross-posted with the permission of Dr. Nathan H. Lents from his The Human Evolution Blog. Mandrills are, literally, one of the most colorful creatures on earth and certainly the most colorful primates. Their striking faces are matched...
July 27, 2015
A deadly passion: moths and their attraction to artificial light
Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion …. ~Helen Hunt Jackson It’s a common saying – “like a moth to a flame” – which implies a strong, perhaps even dangerous attraction to...
June 28, 2015
Cigarettes kick butt in mosquito control
What happens to the 6 trillion cigarettes smoked around the world every year? About two-thirds of them end up tossed into the environment. Besides being non-biodegradable, smoked cigarette butts contain 7,000 chemicals, including at least 69...
June 9, 2015
Antibodies: Bringing on the Age of Star Trek Medicine
When the original series of Star Trek introduced the medical tricorder back in the 1960s, it was utter science fiction. Nobody had any idea how such a handheld device able to diagnose a plethora of medical...
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