Last weekend we made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch. While my kids scoured the field for their future jack-o-lanterns, I pursued a box of gourds, marveling at the variety. They were yellow, orange, green, white, round, bottlenecked, squat, elongated, smooth,...
In a dire drought like this one, most people aren’t worried about the connection between groundwater pumping and seismicity. Yet in addition to the slew of other ensuing problems, over pumping the Central Valley’s groundwater basic might lead to more earthquakes,...
The sounds of a gently babbling stream or leaves rustling in the wind can calm city-dwellers far from woodsy retreats. These natural sounds may also influence the behavior of gorillas raised in zoos that have never seen a rainforest. Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla...
Whiffen the sea otter passed away on May 10 during an MRI scan at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre. Three months earlier he was found stranded on a beach, his hind flippers injured. According to the aquarium’s veterinarian, Whiffen was likely...
In 2006, a man named Jasper Lawrence travelled to Africa to infect himself with hookworm by walking barefoot in a steaming mound of human excrement. He and other proponents of so-called helminthic therapy say that industrialized societies have become too clean, and in...
Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” and kittens with mittens, bright-colored Skittles and feeling all smitten, vibrations screaming from taut guitar strings, these are some things that I find pleasing. I have an emotional connection with each item on that list, but only one...
Summer beckons in the northern latitudes. As temperatures warm, beachgoers will flood sandy coasts, carrying bags of potato chips and sandwiches. Picnics will sprout in parks supplied with pink watermelon wedges and soda pop. Feasts ripe for people, and undoubtedly...
When a child visits a pediatric neurologist with bad headaches, some doctors will have the child draw a picture the headache. These drawings can be surprisingly telling about the cause of the headaches, especially when the child suffers from migraine. The following...
For tens of thousands of years, dogs have been part of the human community. Recent research suggests they were first domesticated by European hunter-gatherers between 18,800 and 32,100 years ago, but it’s also possible dogs were domesticated earlier elsewhere...
Just before sunrise, Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan spotted a strange glow circling the horizon of the moon. He was expected to see some light from the sun, rays from the outer corona just as in sunrises on earth, but the shape and behavior of the glow—a...
Being a science writer is kind of like being an aunt. When you’re an aunt, you get to go on the strolls through the park, bounce the baby on your knee, and play peek-a-boo. But when that smile turns to a frown, the water works begin, and things get stinky, it’s time...
