The pink, squishy organ inside our heads is often considered the ultimate biological control center. There is no doubt that the brain is extraordinary, complex, and great at its difficult job of controlling organisms; however, it is not the only player in cognition. Instead, scientists are now realizing that other types of cells possess forms […]
Plants and the ‘roots’ of cognition Read More »
While some dangerous creatures opt for a more subtle approach, the poison dart frog is remarkably considerate for letting predators know ahead of time that it is not to be messed with. Its vibrant color is meant to signify its high toxicity, an example of aposematism or an animal advertising to its predators that it
Poison dart frogs: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger Read More »
Former Red Sox player Wade Boggs, known as the “chicken man,” famously ate chicken before every one of his games as a good luck charm. Boggs told MLB.com, “In 1983, we ate chicken every day, and I wound up winning a batting title in ’83. So, the chicken worked.” While this pre-game ritual may have
The science of superstition Read More »
Taylor Swift. Northeastern memes. That concert you went to last weekend. Endless scrolling through countless short videos until you zone back into reality. This is a typical experience on TikTok’s “For You” page. Somehow, the mysterious TikTok algorithm never fails to yield an entertaining assortment of content, stealing hundreds of precious active hours with its
Cracking the code behind TikTok’s ‘For You’ algorithm Read More »
Although mice don’t have Instagram likes or followers to keep track of, social status is still a huge part of their societies. There is a clear hierarchy, with the top mice receiving first pick when it comes to food and mates and subordinate mice scrambling for whatever’s left. As shown by a study at Zhejiang
Of mice and mental health: How loss of social status leads to depression Read More »
Invisibility — a superpower that once only seemed possible in the Harry Potter universe — is actually more realistic than we think. A special organism found in South American rainforests, aptly named the glass frog, is a virtually transparent amphibian with translucent green skin, muscle, and tissues. Only the frog’s major organs are visible when
How to disappear: Glass frogs and a lesson on hemoglobin flow Read More »
While people tend to focus on COVID-19’s disruption to our daily routines, there was a separate world of consequences for wildlife. Animals have always had to adapt to the changing behaviors of human civilization by moving their habitats and adjusting their usage of resources like food, water, and shelter to maximize survival. The COVID-19 pandemic
With people at home, more space to roam: How COVID affected bird behavior Read More »
Just when the world thought it had gotten a grasp on COVID-19, monkeypox emerged as another infectious disease and public health concern. Monkeypox is a viral disease classified as an Orthopoxvirus, a genus that includes smallpox, cowpox, camelpox, and similar diseases. Excluding smallpox, all human cases of orthopoxviruses are considered zoonoses, or diseases transmitted to
The return of monkeypox Read More »
Glass is an integral part of modern buildings, appreciated for its uniquely transparent nature that provides a literal window to the outside world. Made mostly of sand, sodium carbonate, and limestone, glass resists intense weather patterns and precipitation and is recyclable and relatively inexpensive to produce. However, glass has several weaknesses — it is thermally
Seeing through trees: Transparent wood as a next-generation glass Read More »