Environment
Natural History is Dying, and We Are All the Losers
A few weeks ago, I came across a new paper in BioScience called "Natural History's Place in Science and Society" that contained the following graph.
The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
Evolution
Grasses' Secret: They Have Flowers, and Some Are Gorgeous
Growing up, I felt certain that grass and most trees did not have flowers. They just had leaves and seeds — that was all I could see, anyway.
Spiny Baby Sea Bass Illustrates Surprising Physiques of Young Fish
Among divers and marine biologists, it’s common knowledge that ocean fish lead double lives. Like birds and butterflies, their young often look nothing like the adults, but unlike birds and butterflies, it is the young that are often more beautiful and ornate than their parents...
Kawasaki Disease Traced to Winds from Northeast China Carrying Unusual Fungal Load
In 2012 I wrote a story for Nature about a strange illness called Kawasaki Disease whose cause has eluded scientists for over 50 years. The diseases causes inflammation of the blood vessels in small children that leads to fever, rashes and reddening, and even coronary aneurysms that can cause heart attacks in the young...
Evolution
In Honor of Linnaeus, a Rogue’s Gallery of New Species
Today is the birthday of one of my science heroes: Carl Linnaeus. Born on May 23, 1707, the Swede turned natural history from a hobby into a science with his masterful systemization and documentation of what had until then been haphazard classification of plants, animals and fungi...
Evolution
Everyone Poops, Even Paramecium
Perhaps you’ve heard of — or even read — the children’s book “Everyone Poops“. This illustrative tome explains that because everyone eats, everyone poops...
Evolution
Ferns Stole Rare Gene From Unlikely Source
Scientists knew neochrome was odd before they started rooting around in its family tree. A union of independent proteins — red-sensing phytochrome and blue-sensing phototropin — the super-protein combines two already-great pieces into one fantastic whole that helps plants grow toward dim, filtered light...
Biology
Frog-Killing Fungus Meets Its Match in Tiny Predators
As I reported in a feature story in Scientific American last December , some fungi have been behaving badly of late, attacking bats, plants, amphibians, reptiles, and people with gusto, driving many species to extinction and others to the brink...
Blueprints Revealed for a Milk-Making Insect with a Nasty Reputation
African tsetse flies are not pleasant to encounter. Slightly larger than a horse-fly and very aggressive, they fly headlong toward their target at high speed, bounce off, and then search around for a suitable spot to tap it...
Biology
New Worm-Like Mite Features Extraordinary Upholstery
This bizarre structure is not from the prop shop of a science fiction movie, though it may well provide inspiration there. What might you guess this claw-like appendage is attached to?
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