Podcast
CO2's dangerous overlooked cousin, the origins of the southern hemisphere, why magnetic credit cards don't stick to the fridge and why so many white cats are deaf.
Podcast
ANIMAL MODELS: Rhesus monkey social relationships reveal a link between stress and overeating, what the platypus genome can tell us about being a mammal, how an antidepressant restores vision in rats, negligent mother mice have abnormal brain chemistry, and fruit flies uncover secrets of aging and pain.
Platypus Genome
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the duck-billed platypus, a gold mine for genetic research.
Podcast
EVOLUTION & EPIGENETICS: Lizards evolve new structures in record time, geographic gene expression in Moroccan Berbers, Tyrannosaurus rex protein confirms genetic link between dinosaurs and birds. Also: Assessing the health of the oceans.
Tyrannosaurus Rex & Birds
Protein sequencing confirms the evolutionary relationships between dinosaurs and birds.
Lizard Evolution
Lizards introduced to a new island undergo extremely rapid evolution.
Podcast
Conservation Update: A species map for Madagascar, captive tigers could revitalize wild populations, beetles that make deserts and cooling it with trees.
Podcast
RADIATION: The world's most powerful laser, radiation dangers for astronauts, a new drug fights radiation poisoning, and the lifespan of the sun.
Radiation Protection
Scientists are taking lessons from tumor cells to fight the damaging effects of radiation and chemotherapy.
Sensing Calories
Our brains may get pleasure from high-calorie foods that has nothing to do with taste.
Podcast
GENETICS & EVOLUTION: Exclusively human genes, transitional fossils, and the history of lefthandedness.
Transitional Fossils
A listener asks: Have many transitional fossils showing evolutionary links between major groups of animals been found in the fossil record?
Conspicuous Camouflage
Scientists test whether predators really mistake the eyespots on the wings of some butterflies for real eyes.
Unique Genes
We inherited most of our genes from our evolutionary ancestors. But a small percentage of genes only occur in humans. Scientists are just starting to find out how they make us who we are.
Podcast
INSECTS & SPIDERS: Spiders play dead for sex, how to make a queen bee, foiling the mosquito's sense of smell, and a new treatment for Lyme disease.
Honeybee Royal Jelly
Royal jelly creates queen bees by changing gene expression.
Mosquito Repellent
The insect repellent DEET doesn't repel mosquitoes so much as confuse them.
Cat Domestication
A listener asks: where and when were cats first domesticated?
Snakes vs. Newts
Eating a toxic newt could kill a human, so why can some hungry snakes get away with it?
Monkey Alarms
Some monkeys combine their alarm calls to create an entirely new meaning.
Podcast
ENERGY NEWS: Electricity from bacteria, people power, thermoelectricity and what the sun is made of.
Genetic Politics Roundup
Researchers study the views of identical twins to investigate whether genetics plays a role in political preferences.