Site index

This is a chronological list of all the articles on this site.

 

February 2008

#191 – 20/02/08 – Tiny molecules drove the evolution of the vertebrates

#190 – 17/02/08 – Testing, not studying, makes for strong long-term memories

#189 – 15/02/08 – Earliest bat shows flight developed before echolocation

#188 – 13/02/08 – Third cousin couples have the most children and grandchildren

#187 – 02/02/08 – New languages evolve in rapid bursts

 

January 2008

#186 – 30/01/08 – Malawi cichlids – how aggressive males create diversity

#185 – 29/01/08 – Colour-changing chameleons evolved to stand out, not blend in

#184 – 26/01/08 – Averaging photos creates infallible face recognition tool

#183 – 24/01/08 – Blind cavefish not so blind

#182 – 21/01/08 – Editing Ebola – how to tame one of the world’s deadliest viruses

#181 – 20/01/08 – Sex runs hot and cold – why does temperature control the gender of Jacky dragons?

#180 – 19/01/08 – Canny breeding creates vitamin A-rich maize without genetic modification

#179 – 17/01/08 – Meet the genetically modified super-carrot, now fortified with calcium

#178 – 14/01/08 – Dinosaurs grew fast, had teen pregnancies and died young

#177 – 11/01/08 – An interview with David Attenborough

#176 – 10/01/08 – Loss of big mammals breaks alliance between ants and trees

#175 – 07/01/08 – Cross-breeding restores sight to blind cavefish

#174 – 05/01/08 – Newborn babies have a preference for the way living things move

#173 – 03/01/08 – Evolutionary arms race turns ants into babysitters for Alcon blue butterflies

#172 – 01/01/08 – Assassin bugs deceive spiders with coat of many corpses

 

December 2007

#171 – 27/12/07 – Not Exactly Rocket Science’s Review of 2007

#170 – 24/12/07 – Whales evolved from small aquatic hoofed ancestors

#169 – 22/12/07 – Cuttlefish tailor their defences to their predators

#168 – 19/12/07 – Short lives, short size – why are pygmies small?

#167 – 15/12/07 – Prehistoric meat-eating fungus snared microscopic worms

#166 – 13/12/07 – Time doesn’t actually slow down in a crisis

#165 – 11/12/07 – Mud time capsules show evolutionary arms race between host and parasite

#164 -08/12/07 – Sickle cell mice cured by stem cells reprogrammed from their own tails

#163 – 07/12/07 – Subliminal flag shifts political views and voting choices

#162 – 06/12/07 – Songbirds need so-called “human language gene” to learn new tunes

#161 – 04/12/07 – Chimps trump university students at memory task

 

November 2007

#160 – 30/11/07 – The social life of our extinct relatives

#159 – 29/11/07 – MRSA gets piggyback from livestock to human

#158 – 27/11/07 – Solving the San Francisco plankton mystery

#157 – 23/11/07 – Human skin cells reprogrammed into stem cells

#156 – 21/11/07 – Brain of the beholder – the neuroscience of beauty in sculpture

#155 – 18/11/07 – Envious capuchin monkeys react badly to raw deals

#154 – 15/11/07 – Cooperating bacteria are vulnerable to slackers

#153 – 12/11/07 – Delay not deviance: brains of children with ADHD mature later than others

#152 – 11/11/07 – Drought drives toads to mate with other species

#151 – 10/11/07 – How soil imprisons ancient carbon

#150 – 07/11/07 -Fake cleaner fish dons multiple disguises

#149 – 05/11/07 -Metabolic gene and breastfeeding unite to boost a child’s IQ

#148 – 04/11/07 – Ants spread collective immunity through contact

#147 – 03/11/07 – Broken chains and faulty mirrors cause problems for autistic children

 

October 2007

#146 – 31/10/07 – ‘Brainbow’ paints individual neurons with different colours

#145 – 24/10/07 – The neuroscience of optimism – how the brain creates a rosy outlook

#144 – 22/10/07 – Clock gene and moonlight help corals to co-ordinate a mass annual orgy

#143 – 20/10/07 – How India became the fastest continent

#142 – 18/10/07 – Elephants smell the difference between human ethnic groups

#141 – 14/10/07 – Bdelloid rotifers – 80 million years without sex

#140 – 10/10/07 – The evolution of the past tense – how verbs change over time

#139 – 09/10/07 – Ants herd aphids with tranquilisers in their footsteps

#138 – 08/10/07 – Buzzing bees scare elephants away

#137 – 06/10/07 – Ancient plants manipulate insects for hot, smelly sex

#136 – 03/10/07 – Doctors repress their responses to their patients’ pain

#135 – 01/10/07 – Genes affect our likelihood to punish unfair play

#134 – 01/10/07 – Sabre-toothed cats had weak bites

 

September 2007

#133 – 28/09/07 – Paper wasps – caring mothers evolved into selfless workers

#132 – 26/09/07 – Tardigrades become first animals to be exposed to open space

#131 – 24/09/07 – Space flight turns Salmonella into super-bug

#130 – 23/09/07 – Flu viruses take the summer off to go travelling

#129 – 21/09/07 – Predicting ethnic violence – why good neighbours need good fences

#128 – 20/09/07 – Evidence that Velociraptor had feathers

#127 – 19/09/07 – The fall and rise of lefties in Victorian England

#126 – 17/09/07 – Mobs of honeybees suffocate hornets to death

#125 – 14/09/07 – Trout with salmon parents could help to revive endangered fish species

#124 – 12/09/07 – Did climate change kill off the Neanderthals? Not likely…

#123 – 10/09/07 – Genetic study puts damper on gray whales’ comeback

#122 – 08/09/07 – Is a virus responsible for the disappearing bees?

#121 – 05/09/07 – Moray eels attack ‘Alien-style’ with second pair of jaws

#120 – 04/09/07 – New plant species arise from conflicts between immune system genes

#119 – 01/09/07 – Foul-tasting ant parasitises the colonies of other species

 

August 2007

#118 – 30/08/07 – An entire bacterial genome discovered inside that of a fruit fly

#117 – 29/08/07 – Fruit flies have a taste for fizzy drinks

#116 – 27/08/07 - Virtual reality illusions produce out-of-body experiences in the lab

#115 – 25/08/07 – Scientists watch free will give way to instinct as danger approaches

#114 – 23/08/07 - Why are women better at food shopping than men?

#113 – 21/08/07 – Grammar – a weapon against bacteria

#112 – 19/08/07 – Ground squirrels use infrared signals to fool heat-seeking rattlesnakes

#111 – 18/08/07 - Molecule’s constant efforts keep our memories intact

#110 – 16/08/07 - Clever New Caledonian crows use one tool to acquire another

#109 – 13/08/07 - Dinosaurs provide clues about the shrunken genomes of birds

 

July 2007

#108 – 24/07/07 – Genetic diversity gives honeybees an edge

#107 – 21/07/07 – Five-month-old babies prefer their own languages and shun foreign accents

#106 – 18/07/07 – Megaflood in English Channel separated Britain from France

#105 – 14/07/07 - Butterflies evolve resistance to male-killing bacteria in record time

#104 – 10/07/07 - Aphids defend themselves with chemical bombs

#103 – 08/07/07 – Argentavis, the largest flying bird, was a master glider

#102 – 05/07/07 - Are women more talkative than men?

#101 – 03/07/07 – Bleached corals recover in the wake of hurricanes

 

June 2007

#100 – 28/06/07 -Icebergs are hotspots for life

#99 – 25/06/07 – Altruistic chimpanzees clearly help each other out

#98 – 24/06/07 – Restoring predator numbers by culling prey

#97 – 23/06/07 - Resistance to an extinct virus makes us more vulnerable to HIV

#96 – 21/06/07 - Bone-crushing super-wolf went extinct during last Ice Age

#95 – 20/06/07 - Moths mimic each others’ sounds to fool hungry bats

#94 – 18/06/07 - Inner ear size can predict a mammal’s agility

#93 – 16/06/07 – Human nitrogen emissions indirectly capture carbon by fertilising forests

#92 – 13/06/07 – Of flowers and pollinators – a case study in punctuated evolution

#91 – 11/06/07 – The effect of GM crops on local insect life

#90 – 08/06/07 – Simple sponges provide clues to origin of nervous systems

#89 – 07/06/07 – Cultured chimps pass on new traditions between groups

#88 – 05/06/07 – Monkeys (and their neurons) are calculating statisticians

#87 – 03/06/07 – The evolution of animal personalities – they’re a fact of life

 

May 2007

#86 – 31/05/07 – Orang-utan study suggests that upright walking may have started in the trees

#85 – 30/05/07 – Why music sounds right – the hidden tones in our own speech

#84 – 28/05/07 – Army ants plug potholes with their own bodies

#83 – 28/05/07 – Tracks provide evidence of swimming dinosaurs

#82 – 26/05/07 – Babies can tell apart different languages with visual cues alone

#81 – 25/05/07 – Bats create spatial memories without making new brain cells

#80 – 24/05/07 – Experience tunes a part of the brain to the shapes of words

#79 – 22/05/07 – Parasites can change the balance of entire communities

#78 – 20/05/07 – The upside of herpes – when one infection protects against another

#77 – 17/05/07 – A mismatch between nutrition before and after birth can lead to poor health

#76 – 15/05/07 – Living optic fibres bypass the retina’s back-to-front structure

#75 – 12/05/07 – Drugs and stimulating environments reverse memory loss in brain-damaged mice

#74 – 09/05/07 – Chimps show that actions spoke louder than words in language evolution

#73 – 07/05/07 – Beetle and yeast vs. bee – how American bees are losing the evolutionary arms race

#72 – 05/05/07 – Sneaking medicines past the brain’s defences

#71 – 03/05/07 – In conflicts over beliefs and values, symbolic gestures matter more than reason or money

#70 – 01/05/07 – When the heat is on, male dragons become female

 

 

April 2007

#69 – 29/04/07 – Drugs that work against each other could fight resistant germs

#68 – 27/04/07 – Climate change responsible for decline of Costa Rican amphibians and reptiles

#67 – 26/04/07 – Chimps have more adaptive genetic changes than humans

#66 – 23/04/07 – Attack of the killer mice – introduced rodents eat seabird chicks alive

#65 – 20/04/07 – Chimerism, or How a marmoset’s sperm is really his brother’s

#64 – 18/04/07 – Death of dinosaurs did not lead to rise of modern mammals

#63 – 16/04/07 – Carbon offset schemes worsen global warming if trees are planted in the wrong places

#62 – 14/04/07 – Opinion: Discovery of ‘fat gene’ highlights stigma against obese people

#61 – 11/04/07 – Corals survive acid oceans by switching to soft-bodied mode

#60 – 09/04/07 – Shark-hunting harms animals at bottom of the food chain

#59 – 06/04/07 – Loss of traditional knowledge in the Amazon leads to poorer child health

#58 – 04/04/07 – Platelet lifespans are set in a two-protein tug-of-war

 

March 2007

#57 – 31/03/07 – Rats check their own knowledge before taking a test

#56 – 29/03/07 – Human cone cell lets mice see in new colours

#55 – 27/03/07 – The secret of drug-resistant bubonic plague

#54 – 25/03/07- Eavesdropping songbirds get predator intel from overheard calls

#53 – 21/03/07 – Genetically-modified mosquitoes fight malaria by out-competing normal ones

#52 – 18/03/07 – Salamander robot walks, swims and sheds light on evolutionary step from sea to land

#51 – 16/03/07 – Impulsive brains are primed for drug addiction

#50 - 13/03/07 – Opinion: Not so unique – the chimpanzee Stone Age, and our place among intelligent animals

#49 – 08/03/07 – Bird-brained jays show human trick of planning for the future

#48 – 05/03/07 – Viruses evolve to be more infectious in a well-connected population

#47 – 01/03/07 – Chimpanzees make spears to hunt bushbabies

 

February 2007

#46 – 25/02/07 – 9/11 memories reveal how ‘flashbulb memories’ are made in the brain

#45 – 20/02/07 – The snake that eats toads to steal their poison

#44 – 18/02/07 – Review – Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande

#43 – 13/02/07 – The insula – the brain’s cigarette addiction centre

#42 – 10/02/07 – The heavy cost of having children

#41 – 04/02/07 - Opinion: How biofuels could cut carbon emissions, produce energy and restore dead land

#40 – 01/02/07 – Worms track us down with a chemical trail

 

January 2007

#39 – 28/01/07 – Microraptor – the dinosaur that flew like a biplane

#38 – 24/01/07 – Maternal hormone shuts down babies’ brain cells during birth

#37 – 21/01/07 – Human gut bacteria linked to obesity

#36 – 14/01/07 – Brain parasite drives human culture

#35 – 02/01/07 – ‘How to Smell Underwater’ with the star-nosed mole

 

December 2006

#34 – 25/12/06 – Christmas special – Virgin birth by Komodo dragons

#33 – 22/12/06 – Bats: internal compasses and record-breaking tongues

#32 – 18/12/06 – Feed the world – turning cotton into a food crop

#31 – 12/12/06 – Non-coding DNA drove brain evolution by making nerve cells stickier

#30 – 07/12/06 – No new brain cells for you – settling the neurogenesis debate

#29 – 05/12/06 – New learning robot adapts to injuries

#28 – 02/12/06 – Camouflaged communication – the secret signals of squid

 

November 2006

#27 – 27/11/06 – Elephants can recognise themselves in a mirror

#26 – 23/11/06 – Natural selection does a handbrake turn – quick evolution at work

#25 – 19/11/06 – Carbon nanotechnology in a 17th-century Damascus sword

#24 – 16/11/06 – Asymmetrical brains allow us (and fish) to multi-task

#23 – 12/11/06 – Climate change: one degree away from the point of no return

#22 – 07/11/06 – Our sense of fair play lives on the right side of the brain

#21 – 04/11/06 – Too few genes to survive – a bacteria with the world’s smallest genome

 

October 2006

#20 – 30/10/06 – Opinion: Women in science or “Why those at the top should mind what they say”

#19 – 26/10/06 – Magnifection: mass-producing drugs in record time

#18 – 23/10/06 – Do fruit flies dream of electric sheep? or What is the point of sleep?

#17 – 17/10/06 – Farmed salmon decimate wild populations by exposing them to parasites

#16 – 12/10/06 – Hope for corals – swapping algae improves tolerance to global warming

#15 – 09/10/06 – Tarantula climbs wall by spinning silk from its feet

#14 – 04/10/06 – The Lady Macbeth effect – how physical cleanliness affects moral cleanliness

 

September 2006

#13 – 29/09/06 – Neutralising anthrax – moving closer to a cure

#12 – 22/09/06 – Round peg, square hole – why our bird flu drugs are a fluke

#11 – 16/09/06 – Hidden ‘junk’ gene separates human brains from chimpanzees

#10 – 13/09/06 – How many types of dinosaur were there?

#9 – 11/09/06 – A woman in a vegetative state shows awareness of her surroundings

#8 – 08/09/06 – Stem cells only grow up properly in the right environment

#7 – 03/09/06 – Hatena: when two cells are better than one

 

August 2006

#6 – 31/08/06 – Aphids get superpowers through sex

#5 – 28/08/06 – The mantis shrimp: the world’s fastest punch

#4 – 23/08/06 – How Big Brother keeps us honest

#3 – 21/08/06 – Of dogs and devils: the rise of contagious cancer

#2 – 16/08/06 – The fox and the island: an Aleutian fable

#1 – 13/08/06 – The mimic octopus: a master of disguise