Enlarge / Could this guy’s mental abilities be staving off some of the impact of climate change? (credit: Andrew Howe ) Many bird species are slowly but surely getting smaller. One study from 2019 looked at more than 70, 000 North American migratory birds across 52 species that met untimely ends by flying into Chicago […]
Enlarge / Male musk duck (Biziura lobata) captured in camera chillaxing in the wild in Sandford, Tasmania, Australia. Not the same duck recorded 30 years ago saying “You bloody fool!” (credit: JJ Harrison /CC BY 3.0) Back in 1987, a researcher in Australia recorded a male musk duck named Ripper producing a vocalization that sounded […]
Enlarge / A Eurasian jay takes a skeptical view of magic. (credit: Luc Viatour) Most magic tricks require a fairly sophisticated understanding of how humans perceive the world. To fall for a trick, people have to see things they perceive as important and ignore things that are actually important. Understanding why magic works can tell […]
Enlarge / The stark surface of Redonda Island is turning green again. (credit: Invertzoo) Hundreds of years ago, Europeans were sailing the globe and “discovering” new parcels of land—and rats came along with them as stowaways. As crews made landfall on many islands, rats hopped off and made themselves new homes. The rats prospered, out-competing, […]
As you’ve probably heard by now, there’s a snowstorm ravaging Texas right now. State and local governments were completely unprepared for the temperatures, and now the deep freeze has caused the power grid to go down — meaning people can’t heat their homes amid the freezing cold. While most people have found ways to keep […]