Biodiversity is, in most cases, good. And, as I’ve written before, biodiversity matters. In general, a healthy dose of biodiversity is something to strive for. It can, as a recent study in Nature shows, even help fighting disease. (Warning: modest bullet point bonanza below.) The researchers performed their investigation on three levels: First, sampling ‘in […]
Category Archives: Nature
Humpback whales are known virtuosos. Their mating songs are characterized by an impressive duration and complexity. In recent years, however, more and more reports show that they’re not only singing when they find themselves at breeding grounds. A new study,… Well, you’ll just have to read about that on United Academics. Muhahaha.
Most of us are aware of the strain our waste puts on the environment and our health. And what is more, most of us care about it. So, we recycle. But we don’t recycle as much as we think. Studies show that there is almost always a discrepancy between self-reports and observed behaviors of recycling […]
Climate change is, and will be, a serious problem. That we all know. Rainfall patterns will change, and temperatures too. New research suggests that forests in areas predicted to be hit by severe droughts are quite vulnerable to this change. Click here to continue…
Some time ago, a brief science fiction story I wrote, ‘How To Build A Tiger’, was selected as finalist in the 2011 WOLFoundation Essay Contest. Now, a free eBook of selected essays is available here (the Kindle version costs $3.41). The book contains 20 essays concerning environmental awareness and sustainability, mostly in traditional essay form, […]
Parasites are sneaky critters. Some of them take ‘devious’ to a whole other level, as they can alter the behavior of their host. Puppet masters, I say. Well-known examples of such behavioral manipulation include ants climbing up a blade of grass at night, waiting to be eaten; or rodents that suddenly become attracted to cats […]
As I’ve written before, biodiversity matters. Sadly, we’ve been changing our environments more and more, often to the detriment of other species. Hence the birth of restoration ecology, the discipline that investigates how to restore damaged ecosystems back to their healthy selves. As you can imagine, no easy task. A recent review in the journal […]
Continuing with some more Olympics-related matters, a recent essay in Nature Reviews Microbiology caught my eye. It’s called the Microbial Olympics and, just like the title suggests, in it the authors describe the events taking place at the inaugural ‘Microbial Olympics’. It’s a pleasant, well-written piece and if you can get your hands on it, […]
Establishing nature reserves is a very important part of the effort needed to safeguard global biodiversity. But, in itself, it’s not enough. A letter in Nature, authored by an impressive number of scientists (over 200. Update: 216, see the link provided by one of the authors in the comments for more information about the paper), […]
Ask anyone with a pet (or animal companion, if you prefer that term), animals have personality. Anthropomorphism aside, there seems to be something to it. In recent years, research in animal behavior has resulted in the suggestion that there are indeed behavioral differences between animals in a population that persist through time and across contexts. […]
