2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Jihyun Olivia Kim discusses her paper “Heatwave-mediated decreases in phytoplankton quality negatively affect zooplankton productivity“, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2024 Haldane Prize for…
Category: Life
Is that shark ticking? In a first, a shark is recorded making noise
Sharks may not be the sharp-toothed silent type after all. The clicking of flattened teeth, discovered by accident, could be “the first documented case of deliberate sound production in sharks,”…
A nearly century-old dead date palm tree helped solve an ancestry mystery
What the island nation of Cape Verde cherishes as its own distinctive kind of date palm is getting an ancestry reveal. The Cape Verde date palm (Phoenix atlantica), native to…
Diverse forests are more resilient to storm disturbances across Europe – Functional Ecologists
2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Julien Barrere discusses his paper “Forest storm resilience depends on the interplay between functional composition and climate—Insights from European-scale simulations“, which has been shortlisted for Functional…
A tardigrade protein helped reduce radiation damage in mice
A protein found in tardigrades — tiny animals less than a millimeter long — can protect mice from radiation damage. Most cancer patients undergo radiation therapy as part of their…
How Sleep Rewrites the Brain to Strengthen and Optimize Memories
Summary: A new study reveals how the brain reprocesses and refines memories during sleep, particularly those related to spatial learning. Researchers tracked rats’ hippocampal neuron activity for up to 20…
Virtual Reality Reveals Hidden Brain Patterns in Kids With ADHD
Summary: Researchers used a virtual reality game and functional MRI to uncover how children’s brains with ADHD respond differently during active tasks. Unlike traditional brain scans taken during rest, this…
How silicon turns tomato plants into mean, green, pest-killing machines
Silicon powers more than electronics: In tomato plants, it fuels a complex defense system that could help farmers use fewer pesticides. Tomato plants on four continents are currently under attack…
early career research award – Functional Ecologists
The Haldane Prize is awarded annually by the British Ecological Society for the best paper in Functional Ecology by an early career author. We are pleased to present the shortlisted papers for the 2024 award (published…
Viewpoint: Here’s a reminder of what life was like in RFK Jr’s.’ ‘good ol’ pre-vaccine days
In the early 1800s, some people rejected the smallpox vaccine because they didn’t trust the doctors and scientists promoting them, or because they saw vaccines as an affront to God’s…
