Category Archives: American Scientist
Biodiversity’s Invisible Palette
from American Scientist July-August 2012 Tropical ecologists have a long tradition of tromping through the forest in rubber boots, tracking the fates of individual trees and perhaps scaling some of these 50-meter giants to sample their foliage. But forests—and the … Continue reading
Decoding a Flower’s Message
from American Scientist July-August 2012 Texas gourd vines unfurl their large, flared blossoms in the dim hours before sunrise. Until they close at noon, their yellow petals and mild, squashy aroma attract bees that gather nectar and shuttle pollen from … Continue reading
In the News: Leaping Labidocera!
from American Scientist July-August 2012 When threatened by fish, some marine plankton leap through the air to safety. Researchers studied this previously undocumented behavior in two species of copepods (tiny crustaceans) that swim near the ocean’s surface. Although breaking the … Continue reading
Insect Escape Artists
Book review in American Scientist May-June, 2012 How Not to Be Eaten: The Insects Fight Back. Gilbert Waldbauer. xiv + 221 pp. University of California Press, 2012. $27.95. Rarely does one have reason to compare a moth and a croquet … Continue reading
In the News: Birth of the Little Ice Age
from American Scientist May-June 2012 Scientists have been uncertain about the specific timing and causes of Europe’s Little Ice Age (LIA), a chilly period that started sometime during the Renaissance and lasted until the mid-19th century. To better document the … Continue reading
The Other Honey
from American Scientist March-April 2012 In rural Ghana, stingless bees are well known as useful animals. Farmers raid natural hives to collect honey, which they use to treat ailments from eye infections to asthma. Many say the bees improve crop … Continue reading
In the News: Teaching, Not Technology
from American Scientist March-April 2012 Population growth and devastating droughts have left thousands of Ethiopian pastoralists in poverty and hunger. But community groups that help people learn literacy, business skills and microfinance–rather than new technologies–made participants more resilient and hopeful … Continue reading
How a Fungus Boosts a Beetle’s Invasion
Microbial evolution helps explain why a mild-mannered American beetle has become a tree killer in Asia Continue reading
In the News: Olives, Herbs and Juniper
from American Scientist January-February 2012 Ancient Greek trade ships shuttled millions of amphoras—ceramic, vase-shaped storage jars—around the Mediterranean and Black seas. The containers are generally thought to have carried wine, but a new DNA analysis of nine jars, aged 2,200 … Continue reading
In the News: Spoiler Alert
from American Scientist November-December 2011 Movie critics might do their readers a favor by slipping more plot spoilers into their reviews. Far from wrecking a story, revealing a surprise ending makes fiction more enjoyable. Also in this issue’s news roundup: … Continue reading