35 years after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, a recent study showed that the crops in the regions near Chernobyl are still contaminated. Continue reading Radioactive Contamination Still Detected in Chernobyl Crops
Territorial red squirrels were found to live longer and have more offspring when they had friendly social relationships with their neighbors. Continue reading Be Nice to Your Neighbors: If You’re a Squirrel, You’ll Live Longer
As the Arctic gets hotter, its landscape releases more greenhouse gases. According to a new study, the warming Arctic soil’s bacteria may diversify and emit even more greenhouse gas than scientists have thought. Continue reading As the Arctic Warms, Soil Bacteria May Diversify and Release More Carbon Dioxide
Commercial harvesting of plants may have forced them to evolve to camouflage and evade humans. Continue reading Plants Can Camouflage Too, and They’re Hiding from Us
How do you introduce yourself, scientifically? My name is Mia Miyagi, and I’m an evolutionary biologist, which means that I study how the process of evolution works and how that process has generated the incredible biodiversity that we have today. More specifically, I’m a theoretical population geneticist. Population genetics is how we think about evolution and variation across entire populations. In other words, how individuals … Continue reading What Does an Evolutionary Biologist Do?
Dinosaurs rose and fell, but one foot-long scaly creature — the tuatara — persisted. Recently, the first tuatara genome was sequenced, unlocking insights into the evolution of other reptiles, birds, dinosaurs, and even our own mammalian lineage. Continue reading Not Just Your Ordinary Lizard: The Unique Genome of the Tuatara
Plastics in the ocean are a huge problem, partly because microplastics have significant health effects on marine organisms. Few have explored the quantification of microplastics on the deep ocean floor. Continue reading 14 Million Tons of Microplastic are on the Ocean Floor
Asphalt is a common building material in urban areas with increasing use as cities grow, but few consider its pollutant properties. Continue reading Asphalt Contributes to Air Pollution in Urban Cities
Land animals are often smarter than aquatic animals but it is still unclear exactly how their cognition developed. In @NatureComms, @malcommaciver and #UgurcanMugan found that complex landscapes and the ability of land animals to see more in air compared to fish in water may have led to planning circuitry in the brains of land animals.
Continue reading Complex landscapes affect animal cognitive evolution
A recent study of tiger sharks reveals migratory changes based on life stage, sex, and season – and points to oil drilling platforms as key hangout spots, which could have large consequences for their population. Continue reading The Shark Movement: Fresh insight into Tiger Sharks in Gulf of Mexico