Yes, you read that right: someone climbed the monolith El Capitan in Yosemite without ropes, in what’s called a “free solo” ascent. That means crawling up the vertical rock face with only your hands, feet, muscles, and steely (some would … Continue reading →
I recently was on a trip to Fort Bragg, California, as part of a visit to friends and family in that state. “Fort Bragg” doesn’t sound like a lovely spot, unless you’re fond of ammunition. But the town long ago … Continue reading →
Here’s an article that purports to go into the science of the currently popular fasting diets, rather than the hype. My problem with these diets is very simple: if I go for too long without eating I get a migraine, … Continue reading →
Found. Actually, it’s one of the very few fossil mushrooms we have. But all mushrooms, fossilized or otherwise, look pretty ancient to me. Here’s the fossil:
Continue reading →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 →