| May 15, 2012 |
Raven Relationships
- Ravens remember other ravens as friendly or adversarial, even years later.
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| May 11, 2012 |
Podcast for 11 May 2012
- BIRDS & DINOSAURS - Scientists discover T. Rex's feathered cousin, did dino gas warm the ancient earth? And giant fleas that may have pestered the prehistoric giants. Also: why the amorous pursuits of an Australian bird has turned it into a horticulturalist, and how ravens keep track of friend and foe.
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Dinosaur Roundup
- Dinosaurs may have contributed to ancient global warming.
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| May 8, 2012 |
Gardening Birds
- Male Spotted Bowerbirds unintentionally cultivate ornamental plants while attempting to woo the opposite sex.
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| May 7, 2012 |
T. Rex’s Feathered Cousin
- Paleontologists discover a cousin of T. Rex in China – that had feathers.
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| May 4, 2012 |
Techno Animal Roundup
- Researchers are breeding specialized fish that glow when exposed to industrial pollutants.
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| May 2, 2012 |
Baby Goat Accents
- Baby goats’ baas may contain a hidden message for their herdmates.
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| April 26, 2012 |
Predators & Plants
- Eliminating bears, wolves, and other top predators has far-reaching consequences.
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| April 25, 2012 |
Baboon Words
- Baboons can learn to distinguish English words from nonsense letter sequences.
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| April 23, 2012 |
Penguins from Space
- Researchers have estimated the total number of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica using satellite images.
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| April 20, 2012 |
Podcast for 20 April 2012
- SOUND SCIENCE - Can sounds influence dreams? Emotional similarities between music and speech. Does a deeper voice lead people to vote for a political candidate? Baboons that recognize words. And baby goats with accents.
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| April 10, 2012 |
Sugar-Free Carnivores
- Each group of carnivores has a different set of genetic mutations that has knocked out its sweet tooth.
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| April 6, 2012 |
Tech Roundup
- Researchers have designed a camera that can see around corners.
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| April 5, 2012 |
NYC Frog
- Researchers found a previously unknown frog species in New York City.
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| April 3, 2012 |
Monkey Miscarriages
- Wild gelada monkeys spontaneously abort pregnancies when a new male takes over the group.
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| March 29, 2012 |
Sex, Flies & Alcohol
- Sex-deprived male fruit flies consume more alcohol than sexually satisfied flies.
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| March 27, 2012 |
Naked Mole Rat Brains
- Researchers have figured out why naked mole rats are resistant to stroke.
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| March 26, 2012 |
Australian Extinction
- Human hunters drove Australia’s largest animals to extinction around 40,000 years ago.
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| March 23, 2012 |
Podcast for 23 March 2012
- EVOLUTION & EXTINCTION - What really happened to Australia's missing megafauna, how carnivores lost their sweet tooth, why lovelorn fruit flies resort to alcohol, strategic miscarriages in monkeys, and a new frog species is discovered in plain sight.
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| March 15, 2012 |
Extremely Tiny Horses
- Ancient horses shrank when global temperatures rose.
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| March 9, 2012 |
Podcast for 9 March 2012
- NEW MEDICINE - A rare mutation that protects people from diabetes and cancer. How the pancreas "tastes" sugar. And a new implantable microchip that delivers an osteoporosis drug. Also: chimpanzees may yawn for the same reason humans do.
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| March 5, 2012 |
Contagious Yawns
- Both humans and chimpanzees can’t resist the urge to yawn when others do.
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| March 2, 2012 |
Podcast for 2 March 2012
- ALL ABOUT LANGUAGE - Neuroscientists are beginning to reconstruct what we've heard by listening to brainwaves, how scientists measure language delays around the world, using technology to keep endangered languages vibrant, and a musical instrument that allows you to sing...with your hands, Also: decoding the secret language of worms.
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| February 15, 2012 |
Worm Language
- Nematode worms have a surprisingly complex communication system.
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| January 26, 2012 |
A Dog’s Eye View of People
- One key to our successful long-term relationship with dogs may lie in the eyes.
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| January 25, 2012 |
Kinder, Gentler Monkeys
- Rhesus macaque monkeys become kinder after inhaling the hormone oxytocin.
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| January 20, 2012 |
Podcast for 20 January 2012
- ANIMALS & PEOPLE - Levitating flies, what dogs and babies have in common, how oxytocin makes kinder, gentler monkeys, a fish that mimics an octopus that mimics a fish, and how bats hear with both sides of the brain.
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| January 18, 2012 |
Mimic Mimic
- When an Indonesian octopus mimics poisonous fish, a smaller fish takes advantage.
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| January 16, 2012 |
Bat Brains
- Like humans, bats process some types of sounds on the right side of their brains and other sounds on the left side of their brains.
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| January 13, 2012 |
Podcast for 13 January 2012
- SOUNDS & SENSES - Researchers replay some of the first audio recordings ever made. Chimpanzees, like humans, associate certain sounds with certain colors. Can your posture affect how you perceive numbers? Pigeons that learn to count. And spiders with brainy legs.
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Flora & Fauna Roundup
- Researchers have discovered what makes buttercups so shiny.
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| January 11, 2012 |
Sounds & Colors
- Like humans, chimpanzees associate high-pitched sounds with bright colors and low-pitched sounds with dark colors.
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| January 9, 2012 |
Counting Pigeons
- New research suggests that pigeons, like monkeys, can count.
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| January 3, 2012 |
Spider Brains
- Some spiders' brains are so big they spill over into their legs.
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| December 30, 2011 |
Critter Chemicals Roundup
- Some of the most potent antibiotics and insecticides come from animals. Researchers have identified some promising new candidates, derived from ants and frogs.
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| December 16, 2011 |
Podcast for 16 December 2011
- BEHAVIOR, ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT - why dirty laundry could be damaging the environment, how to make wine growing compatible with wildlife, what the Monarch butterfly genome can tell us about their epic migrations, and how wasps see faces.
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| December 14, 2011 |
Starving Fat Cells
- A drug that cuts of the blood supply to fat cells resulted in significant weight loss in obese monkeys.
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| December 13, 2011 |
Wasp Face Processing
- Paper wasps, which can recognize each other, seem to process faces in ways similar to humans.
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| December 9, 2011 |
DNA Fingerprint Roundup
- New uses for DNA fingerprinting include tracking deadly tse-tse flies and identifying species from ancient soil samples.
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| December 5, 2011 |
Monarch Genome
- Scientists have sequenced the Monarch butterfly’s genome, to better understand its epic migrations.
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| December 2, 2011 |
Podcast for 2 December 2011
- THE BRAIN, MOOD & BEHAVIOR - Could dreaming help heal emotional wounds? The relationship between the placebo effect and chronic pain. New research into the genetics of empathy. Also: a computer program to help prevent depression in girls, and exploring sex differences in mood disorders.
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| November 30, 2011 |
Giant Beaver Sounds
- The giant beaver went extinct about 10,000 years ago, but it left behind clues to the sounds it may have used to communicate with.
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| November 24, 2011 |
Wine & Wildlife
- Wildlife often suffer from our insatiable need for agricultural land. But researchers in California are finding that birds and vineyards can actually benefit each other.
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| November 23, 2011 |
Sex & Mood Disorders
- Researchers are studying how female and male rats respond differently to stress in order to shed light on why women are disproportionately affected by mood disorders.
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| November 22, 2011 |
Cooking Up Evolution
- Scientists have new evidence that cooking influenced human evolution.
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| November 21, 2011 |
Fanged Furball
- Paleontologists have discovered a tiny mammal from the age of the dinosaurs that sported tusks.
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| November 18, 2011 |
Podcast for 18 November 2011
- EVOLUTION - Did a giant beaver that once roamed North America communicate by whistling? A newly discovered mammalian fossil that sported fangs. And, did the advent of cooking drive human evolution? Also: new research suggests that Neanderthals' shorter legs were actually an advantage for navigating mountainous terrain.
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Critters & Climate Roundup
- Could the swimming of sea creatures be influencing climate change?
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| November 15, 2011 |
Python Plasma
- Fatty acids in python blood stimulate healthy heart growth.
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| November 14, 2011 |
Stress & Death
- The presence of a predator can lead to an insect’s early death from causes other than predation.
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