Attempts to make science conform to ideology have enjoyed a long and dispiriting history. For many centuries, religion was the main perpetrator, and scientists and philosophers who ran afoul of…
Category: Life
Here are 5 cool findings from a massive project on 240 mammal genomes
Citations N.S. Upham and M.J. Landis. Genomics expands the mammalverse. Science. Vol. 380, April 28, 2023, p. 359. doi: 10.1126/science.add2209. I. Gallego Romero. Seeing humans through an evolutionary lens. Science. Vol. 380, April 28,…
Pets and people bonded during the pandemic. But owners were still stressed and lonely
If you feel like you bonded with your pet during the pandemic, you’re not alone. Cat and dog owners in the United States gradually grew closer to their pets during…
Your Happiness Is Not Just About Your Personality; It’s Also Affected by Circumstances
Summary: Objective circumstances and behaviors like wealth and health affect happiness as much as subjective psychological traits, according to a recent study. Researchers found that surveys of happiness and life…
Enlightening Study Explores the Neurobiology of Psychedelics
Summary: Researchers studied the brain activity of healthy participants under the influence of nitrous oxide, comparing it to data from studies with ketamine and LSD to see whether the neurobiology…
Grasses adjust their root traits during drought to reduce the negative impacts on aboveground productivity – Functional Ecologists
In this new post, Manjunatha H. Chandregowda—a new ecological researcher working at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia—discusses his paper: Root trait shifts towards an avoidance…
Ultrasound reveals trees’ drought-survival secrets
The tissues of living trees may hold the secrets of why some can recover after drought and others die. But those tissues are challenging to assess in mature forests. After…
