Meet the naked mole rat. It’s no typical rodent — it lives underground in Africa, maintains a sophisticated social structure, gets all its food and water from underground tubers, has no fur, and is almost blind. But most impressively, it seems to escape common rules of mortality. Larger animals live longer as a rule, but […]
Naked Mole Rats May Help Us Cure Cancer Read More »
Some of the richest, most intense flavors are achieved by blooming, or tempering, spices. Integral to South Asian cuisine but applicable to many areas of cooking, the technique involves frying aromatic ingredients in fat before adding them to a dish. To understand how this works, we need to take a closer look at the chemistry
When flavors bloom: What happens when we temper spices Read More »
Arabian horses are often considered the most beautiful horse in the world, distinguished by their dish-shaped face, large eyes, and high tail. They originated in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago, and they are capable of enduring heat and traveling long distances. Whether by accident or by strategic breeding, many European horses contain traces
Genes across continents: Investigating genetic diversity in Arabian horses Read More »
As fall descends on the Northern Hemisphere, bears and chipmunks begin to hoard food and build fat stores in preparation for winter. Hibernation occurs in hundreds of known species, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and even one species of bird — the common poorwill. While animals hibernate, their metabolism slows dramatically: they become hypothermic, their heart
Low-resource survival: How hibernating animals conserve energy Read More »