Deep in the ice caves of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York state lives a tiny crustacean with unique abilities. Despite being eyeless, it can still detect some wavelengths of visible light. And it has no problem with being frozen solid during the frigid winters. Read more in New Scientist.
New Scientist
Explosive road rage-like anger linked to parasite spread by cats
There are many ways your cat might be filling you with rage. Scratching your furniture, sitting on your computer keyboard – or giving you parasites that may cause explosive anger. Infection with Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite carried by cats, has been linked to a human psychiatric condition called intermittent explosive disorder. Read more in New Scientist.
Sea-level rise may displace 13 million people in the US by 2100
Sea-level rise could force three times as many people in the US from their homes by the end of this century as previously thought, according to an analysis of population trends. Read more in New Scientist.
Orangutan population in Sumatra more than doubles after census
There are more than twice as many orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra as we thought, according to a new survey. But deforestation and development could still see their numbers plummet over the next decade. A team led by Serge Wich, a primatologist at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, scoured the Sumatran […]
Alligators help protect bird nests – but still snack on chicks
It’s raining food for alligators in the Everglades – those that act as bodyguards for nesting birds get paid in chicks. It’s not uncommon for one animal to gain protection from a neighbour. In Florida’s Everglades, wading birds like storks and egrets preferentially build their nests where alligators live, because the presence of the big […]
Wild gorillas compose happy songs that they hum during meals
Gorillas sing and hum when eating, a discovery that could help shed light on how language evolved in early humans. Singing seems to be a way for gorillas to express contentment with their meal, as well as for the head of the family to communicate to others that it is dinner time. Read more in New Scientist.
White shark’s diet may include biggest fish of all: whale shark
White sharks are voracious predators, and it seems they even set their sights on the biggest fish in the sea. Two vertebrae recovered from the stomach of a 4.5-metre-long white shark caught 50 years ago show that it had been feeding on a whale shark, and a big one at that. It was around 8.5 […]
Spot of bother: have we been getting solar activity wrong?
For 400 years sunspot numbers have told us what the sun is up to. But wrinkles in the record have left solar scientists scratching their heads, until now. EVERY lunchtime, Gustav Holmberg leaves his desk at Lund University in Sweden to take part in a scientific ritual that stretches back to Galileo’s time. Back at his flat, […]
The Big Cull: Where did all the scientists go?
The House of Commons is preparing for the biggest turnover of MPs since the second world war. Half of the 646 MPs will step down or lose their seats, including a majority of those with an interest, or expertise in, research. Scientists and campaign groups, not to mention science journalists, are worried. But how bad […]