Honey badgers. Their name sounds so—sweet. But they don’t care. And you know what? That’s not just an internet meme. They really, really, don’t: fierce, smart, disgusting, they put the “omni” in omnivore. And if everything else about them weren’t … Continue reading →
Here’s a primer on how the GOP could approach passing the AHCA through reconciliation. If you think the process is complex, think again. It’s mega-complex. I find it amusing, however, that part of the procedure involves something known as a … Continue reading →
The answer is “maybe.” But not easily. And the results would be unpredictable. But it was the second paragraph here that especially caught my interest: Assuming that a living passenger pigeon embryo can be “resurrected” (or perhaps, some would prefer … Continue reading →
Another giraffe: This video has some cute closeups (try to ignore the annoying banner on the bottom):
Continue reading →Hey, wait a minute. What’s the contest? you ask. As well you might. It’s a competition I’ve never heard of before: European Tree of the Year. And the winner this year is a glorious oak with a history: A Polish … Continue reading →
Wordsworth wrote: “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…” Now researchers indicate that sleep itself is a forgetting: In 2003, Giulio Tononi and Chiara Cirelli, biologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, proposed that synapses grew so exuberantly during … Continue reading →
Anyone who has read Jane Goodall’s books knows that chimpanzees can be very very violent to others of their species. It came as a shock to Goodall, who had lived with the animals for years before she observed the violence: … Continue reading →
There’s a big mystery under the Antarctic ice: Scientists believe a massive object that could change our understanding of history is hidden beneath the Antarctic ice. The huge and mysterious “anomaly” is thought to be lurking beneath the frozen wastes … Continue reading →
…is not at the solstice, the shortest day of the year. It comes somewhat earlier (now, for example), and varies depending on latitude. Here’s an explanation for the phenomenon: The key to understanding the earliest sunset is not to focus … Continue reading →
An astounding discovery: A dinosaur tail fragment preserved in amber has been found in northern Myanmar, according to National Geographic. This remarkable, 99-million-year-old specimen was found by a team of researchers led by China University of Geosciences paleontologist Lida Xing, … Continue reading →
No, that’s not a joke title. See this: Between the months of May and September, tens of millions of migratory seabirds converge on the Arctic where they eat, breed and poop. Over time, the nitrogen in seabird droppings breaks down … Continue reading →
The leaves aren’t quite what they were just a week ago. But although there are fewer of them, some very beautiful ones still remain. It’s windy, and you can feel a nip in the air. Here are some photos I … Continue reading →