Evolution

Animals Speak with Accents, Too!

Jul 21, 2020

By Emma Goldberg Everyone, young and old, loves Disney movies.  And have you ever noticed that some of the most iconic and loved characters talk in an accent? Think of The Little Mermaid’s Sebastian, or Finding Nemo’s Crush!  Both of these beloved characters sport their very own accent.  Although part of why we love Disney […]

Have you ever wanted to play fetch with a wolf?

Apr 07, 2020

By Emma Goldberg There are nearly 90 million dogs in the US and each has a unique personality.  There is, however, one thing nearly all dogs have in common: if you throw a ball, they will bring it back!  We have long believed that the “fetching skill” only existed in modern dogs, but researchers at […]

Figs and wasps: Name a more iconic duo

Nov 21, 2019

By Lane Scher In 350 BC, Aristotle wrote about wasps crawling out of ripe figs and then tunneling into the figs of another tree in his book, History of Animals. This might have been the first record of the bizarre mutualism between wasps and figs.  Flowers need to be pollinated for a fruit to develop. […]

The Other Humans

Mar 13, 2019

By Rachel Cherney “Where did we come from?” “Why are we here?” These questions have been asked since the dawn of modern humans. While these questions often have a more rhetorical, philosophical meaning, there is also a scientific answer as to how modern humans arose and from where they came. We (Homo Sapiens), are the […]

To Attract or Avoid: Butterfly Wing Patterning

May 31, 2018 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E3000_-_the_wings-become-windows_butterfly._(by-sa).jpg

By Allyson Roberts Spring is finally here to stay. The weather is warming up, the sun is staying out later and later, and we’re beginning to see wildlife flit around outside. Amongst the blooming flowers and buzzing bees, sometimes you can even spot a butterfly perched nearby. Butterflies come in all shapes and sizes, but […]

“Y” So Different?

Apr 19, 2018 https://www.flickr.com/photos/nihgov/28189336441

By Rachel Cherney While a baby is developing, it is by default, female. However, with the presence of the Y sex chromosome, the developing female will be overridden and instead develop a male reproductive system, thus becoming male. Males have an X and a Y sex chromosome, whereas females have two X chromosomes. Millions of […]

Your ancestors had better teeth than you do, so go brush your teeth

Mar 15, 2017

By Lauriel Earley If you’ve ever been to the dentist, you’ll know that most of your time there is spent having plaque cleaned off your teeth. Have you ever given much thought as to what plaque is? If not, then check out here to be a little grossed out. Plaque is a ‘biofilm’, which means […]

The tiny creatures that evolve with our beer industry

Oct 14, 2016

By Yitong Li What comes to your mind when you think of evolution? Giant dinosaurs with sharp fangs and powerful claws? Or giraffes stretching their necks to reach the leaves at the top of a tree? Or Charles Darwin the British gentleman with a long, dense beard? For a group of scientists in Belgium, evolution […]