Humans have shared a special bond with a certain animal since the time of Aristotle. Artworks as early as 1500 BC depicted interactions with this fascinating creature. Members of this species have assisted the US Navy, and have also been used as therapy animals for patients with Down syndrome and autism. These amiable beings are
Growing up in Arizona, we were told that people could go to jail for damaging a Saguaro cactus. Saguaros are a protected symbol of the Southwest. Yet in 2019, videos shot by Kevin Dahl, the Arizona Senior Program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, recorded bulldozers uprooting Saguaro cacti and other desert shrubs at
What does it take to reach the peak of athletic performance and break barriers thought to be beyond human capabilities? One of these barriers is the two-hour marathon, a feat which requires running 26.2 miles while maintaining an average pace of 4:34 per mile. At that speed, you could run the 100-yard length of a
Suppose you stop someone on the street to ask them a question. You offer them three words: what are mitochondria? Chances are, they will reply “the powerhouse of the cell†as a near-Pavlovian reflex. It's amazing to think that almost everyone who went through high school-level biology or life sciences can remember this factoid, regardless
This year I've been reading a lot about seed dormancy and while we're all hunkered down, sheltered in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, I can't help but feel there's an apt comparison to be made. Most plants don't get a lot of input on where they land as seeds, but they do have a say
In recent years, it feels like we have watched parts of the world be swallowed whole by fire, painting a very apocalyptic picture of the future. Nearly 40,000 square miles in Australia were decimated by bushfires last year. California's Camp Fire displaced about 50,000 residents, and Indonesia saw over 2 million acres of land consumed
Dog coats come in a seemingly endless variety of patterns, lengths, textures and colors, determined by their genetic makeup. Just 8-14 different genes are responsible for most of these differences in coat color and pigmentation. Dogs inherit two alleles, or variations, of each of these genes, one from the father and one from the mother.
While I'm often left paralyzed by apple choice in Kroger, I know the breadth of options at grocery stores mask a far different reality: we've lost roughly 90% of the world's crop varieties in the past 100 years. This threat to future food security is referred to as genetic erosion and primarily attributed to the
At the Kennedy Space Center, NASA is finalizing preparations to launch the Mars 2020 rover in July. One of the aims of the Mars 2020 mission is to search for signs of past microbial life through biosignatures. Biosignatures typically present themselves in traces of nitrogen, oxygen, or methane, indicating some active life form in either
The US Atlantic coast is a dynamic, living landscape. Georgia in particular displays a picturesque mosaic of barrier islands, salt marsh meadows, maritime forests, brackish marsh and river networks snaking up the Coastal Plain. Together, coastal habitats form a dynamic ecosystem capable of protecting the coastline, storing carbon, filtering water and providing coastal regions with
Alternatively, this post could have been titled, My Guilty Conscience Series: Plastics. This blog post has been a long time coming – given the fact that I (and many others) have been conditioned to “reduce, reuse, and recycle†before we could even multiply. Yet, as I continue to diligently organize my empty jars and cans
Floriography, better known as the language of flowers, doesn't refer to a communication method between plants. Rather, it is the Victorian era practice of gifting arranged flowers to communicate a coded message: a red rose for love, a white tulip for forgiveness–things you may want to be familiar with this upcoming Valentine's Day. Long before
