Hummingbird in flight. Photo by Jason Paluk.- Congratulations! The winners of this year’s NESCent science blogging contest have been chosen.
- We’re really not that expensive. Want more scientific discoveries? Well, then maybe we should pay for more scientists.
- Darwin wasn’t a jerk. Nineteenth century shipping timetables confirm that Darwin didn’t screw over Alfred Russell Wallace.
- “The bird is so small and light that its bones are largely transparent to X-rays,” he said. X-ray video reveals the mechanics of hummingbird flight.
- Say it ain’t so, Marty Stauffer! Lots of wildlife photography is staged. But that’s probably not a big deal.
- Another reason to keep it natural. Most humans’ body hair is lousy for insulation, but it does help deter parasites.
- For example, the pain of lying on a slight incline for hours? Microgravity environments may interfere with how astronauts perceive pain.
- One of these things is not like the other. A checklist for distinguishing real science from pseudoscience.
- A useful skill, in a herbivore. Sheep can differentiate between different kinds of food plants.
Video this week: tool use by an orange-dotted tuskfish. Specifically, the fish breaks open a clam by hitting it against a rock. Who needs opposable thumbs?
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