The Rise and Reign of the MammalsSteve BrusatteMariner Books, $29.99 In my opinion, the most satisfying science documentary TV series ever made was a 1970s British production called Connections. Hosted…
Category: Life
How mammals took over the world
The Rise and Reign of the MammalsSteve BrusatteMariner Books, $29.99 In my opinion, the most satisfying science documentary TV series ever made was a 1970s British production called Connections. Hosted…
Just 3 ingredients can quickly destroy widely used PFAS ‘forever chemicals’
The undoing of toxic “forever chemicals” may be found in products in your pantry. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, can persist in the environment for centuries. While…
Who decides whether to use gene drives against malaria-carrying mosquitoes?
In a large laboratory cage, a male mosquito carries a genetic weapon that could launch the destruction of his species. That loss could also mean the end of the parasite…
Glial cells may take on big jobs in unexpected parts of the body
In the theater of the brain, nerve cells have long been cast as the stars, bringing mental scenes to life with their electrical and chemical performances. Yet many of the…
Trained dogs sniff out COVID-19 as well as lab tests do
Dogs are as reliable as laboratory tests for detecting COVID-19 cases, and may be even better than PCR tests for identifying infected people who don’t have symptoms. A bonus: The…
Great white sharks may have helped drive megalodons to extinction
For millions of years, megalodon sharks were top ocean predators — and then came the great whites. New analyses of shark teeth hint that competition for food from great white…
An ‘acoustic camera’ shows joining the right boy band boosts a frog’s sex appeal
Loud sounds matter in both car design and frog flirting. So New Hampshire biologists lugged an acoustic camera used by car designers to springtime frog-mating pools to explore female preferences.…
High altitudes may be a climate refuge for some birds, but not these hummingbirds
Cooler, higher locales may not be very welcoming to some hummingbirds trying to escape rising temperatures and other effects of climate change. Anna’s hummingbirds live no higher than about 2,600…
Headbutts hurt the brain, even for a musk ox
Punishing headbutts damage the brains of musk oxen. That observation, made for the first time and reported May 17 in Acta Neuropathologica, suggests that a life full of bell-ringing clashes is…
