Science Update
Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS
HUMANS AND ANIMALS - The origins of ancient house cats in China. Crows that hold grudges. And, how global warming is creating a new breed of Arctic explorers - of the avian variety. Also: the lengths squirrels will go to to hide their nuts.
A new GPS tracking system could warn wind power companies of oncoming birds in time to prevent deadly collisions.
In Florida, invasive, disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes are breeding in the shells of an invasive snail.
Like the pioneers of the American West, the birds that are now settling the Arctic frontier in response to climate change aren’t necessarily the biggest or the strongest, but may instead be castoffs from more hospitable settled areas.
Researchers are testing better ways to find out what sharks eat.
Captive-bred California Condors lack role models to show them how to survive in the wild. But wildlife biologists are there to help them navigate the modern world.
LIFE ON THE EGDE - The challenges facing endangered California Condors when they return to the wild. Could armadillos help end blindness? How scientists can tell that sharks really are what they eat. Fuel from the sea. And, unraveling the mysteries of glowing blue slime.
Using frozen DNA, researchers have created early-stage embryos of an extinct frog.
Glowing blue slime from the sea could be useful in biomedical research.
A listener inquires about the lengths squirrels will go to to hide their nuts.
A massive three-year project will document the insect population of Los Angeles.
The armadillo’s poor eyesight is helping researchers understand the genes behind certain forms of blindness.
Cancer affects much of the animal kingdom, and we still have a lot to learn about it.
Engineers are developing “whale detectors” to help ships avoid striking them.
ANIMAL & HUMAN HEALTH - A special report on the relationship between animal and human health, from pet obesity to cancer in tigers. Also, why spiders have prompted a massive Toyota recall. And, a citizen science project that’s pretty batty.
The Zoobiquity project teams up physicians with veterinarians to study diseases that affect humans and other animals.
Female fairy wrens are more likely to cheat with males that have red plumage.
OCEAN SCIENCE - Old warships become new habitats. An ocean quadcopter gives researchers a sky-high view of the stormy North Atlantic. And, autonomous underwater vehicles that search for sunken treasure. Also, behind the untimely death of the octopus.
Elephants, unlike mammals much more similar to us, seem to instinctively understand pointing gestures.
Octopuses have an unusual reproductive strategy: they die soon after mating.
A tiny but rugged unmanned helicopter helps researchers collect data in the stormy North Atlantic.
Microphone arrays around the North Pacific allow scientists to listen to the diversity of life under the sea.
Whales tan and suffer sunburn-like skin damage, which could indicate changes in UV radiation over the oceans.
The Ugly Animal Preservation Society uses humor to raise awareness about nature's less attractive endangered animals.
