Natural History articles from February 2006

Natural History archives from February 2006

Night flight.(photography of bulldog bat)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Crashing an Oscar afterparty is easier than gaining entree into Central America's nocturnal world. Above one Panamanian island, some seventy-three bat species dominate the night sky. Yet as veteran photographer Frans Lanting discovered, seeing,...

Fly on the wall.(UP FRONT)
February 1, 2006... The alien body part pictured on our cover is nature's answer to gravity. Note the hairlike structures bristling from the base of the large green hemisphere in the center. Each little hair exudes a spot of fluid, the better to cling to surfaces...

Stupid design.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... I am an engineer, not a biologist, but I agree with the point made by Neil deGrasse Tyson in his article "The Perimeter of Ignorance" [11/05]: we are not engineered intelligently. A good engineer would have placed a single ear on top of our...

God of the gaps.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Neil deGrasse Tyson points out the scientific pitfalls of invoking the "God of the gaps" to explain currently unknown features of the natural world. Christian thinkers have also noted the problems of that strategy from a theological...

Fact and theory.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Richard Dawkins ended his excellent article "The Illusion of Design" [11/05], with an unfortunate terminological twist: "Evolution... is not a theory, and for pity's sake, let's stop confusing the philosophically naive by calling it so....

Whale story.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Donald R. Prothero's article "The Fossils Say Yes" [11/05] mentions transitional fossils of whales and other creatures as evidence for evolution. Yet the evidence he mentions can all fit within creationist models. As a creationist, I accept...

Life's origins.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... One basic question of evolution was not addressed in your "Darwin & Evolution" issue [11/05]. How did life and the original cell begin? Charles B. Koons Houston, Texas THE EDITORS REPLY: Charles B. Koons's question has...

"Irreducible complexity".(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Your 11/05 issue, devoted entirely to Darwin and evolution, failed to mention the most significant challenge to evolution in decades: Michael Behe's compelling argument against macroevolution, based on the intricacy of subcellular biochemical...

Insulting and unfair.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... As a staunch creationist, I found the tone of your 11/05 issue to range from condescending to insulting. Even a layman like myself can see that there are holes in the Darwinian theory of evolution through which the Beagle could sail. The...

Genes for jaws.(darwin's finches)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The finches Darwin famously encountered on the Galapagos Islands--whose assorted beaks were adapted to a diet of grubs, insects, leaves, or seeds--demonstrate that new species can evolve when subpopulations specialize in particular foods. The...

Melodious mice.(SAMPLINGS)(ultrasonic mouse calls)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... When it comes to songs, the ones made by birds, whales, and people usually get most of the attention. But new research suggests that mice should be added to the list as well. Investigators have known for some time that male mice emit ultrasonic...

Safe house.(protection and preservation of precious art, historical artifacts)
February 1, 2006... Would you trust your beloved heirlooms to an institution that could not ensure their safety or whose environmental conditions were hazardous to their survival? Presumably not. Yet according to a recent study by Heritage Preservation, a...

Germ warfare.(Myxococcus xanthus's social behavior)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... In spite of their unicellular condition, bacteria can be highly social creatures. Millions of the soil-dwelling bacteria Myxococcus xanthus, for instance, live in cooperative swarms, feeding together on detritus and other microorganisms. When...

Delayed gratification.(SAMPLINGS)(foraging habits of monkeys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Given the choice, many animals prefer a small, immediate reward to a larger one in the future. Both common marmosets and cotton-top tamarins, two species of South American monkey, fit that profile--though a marmoset will wait quite a bit longer...

The Earth gets clocked.(research of eath core)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... How old is the Earth's core? You might think such a fundamental question would have long since been settled, yet various geological "clocks" give conflicting birthdays as far apart as 50 million years. That's a big discrepancy and a big puzzle...

Too clever by half.(spiders' protection and sexual behavior)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Many harmless, tasty animals mimic others that are dangerous or poisonous--an evolutionary tactic that affords protection from predators without the metabolic costs of the real threat. Jumping spiders of the genus Myrrnarachne, for instance,...

Unleash the wasps.(training)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Cuddly they're not, but trained wasps might one day offer some stinging competition to bloodhounds trained to sniff for corpses. In as little as five minutes, parasitic wasps of the species Microplitis croceipes can be conditioned to recognize...

Fossil by proxy.(kelps)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Kelps dominate the reefs of cool seas. They represent most of the biomass in these richly productive ecosystems, yet relatively little is known about their origins. One theory holds that kelps became widespread in the Northern Hemisphere...

Birth of the spud.(SAMPLINGS)(Solanum tuberosum)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... For every hot, salted, deep-fried bite of potato you've enjoyed, you have Andean farmers to thank. They were first to cultivate the spud (Solanum tuberosum), perhaps as early as 7,000 years ago. Today, from western Venezuela to northern...

Exoplanet Earth: what would Earth look like from deep space if inquisitive aliens were scanning for planets?
February 1, 2006... Whether you prefer to crawl, sprint, swim, or walk from one place to another, you can enjoy close-up views of Earth's inexhaustible supply of things to notice. You might see a vein of pink limestone on the wall of a canyon, a lady-bug eating an...

The butterfly bird: a legendary hummingbird draws bird-watchers to the Peruvian Andes, but the details of its biology and ecology remain largely unknown.
February 1, 2006... Alla esta, el colibri que la mariposa le sigue! ("It's over there, the hummingbird that the butterfly follows!"). The children in the crowded schoolyard shout excitedly, pointing to a tiny hummingbird hidden in the foliage. As I often do, to...

Shoe fly: to walk on walls and ceilings, your feet have to stick, but they have to get unstuck, too.(BIOMECHANICS)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... My mother is a rock climber, the familial human fly. She practices endlessly on walls and cliffs, refining her ability to stick to vertical surfaces and overhangs. Watching her, I've had plenty of time to contemplate the biomechanics of her...

March of the weevils: how a Mexican beetle launched a hundred-year attack on United States cotton.
February 1, 2006... More than a hundred years ago, a curious-looking insect appeared in the United States that would dramatically transform the economy and landscape of the cotton-dependent South. The first report from the front lines of the unfolding U.S....

The origins of life: have too many cooks spoiled the prebiotic soup?
February 1, 2006... Twenty-five years ago, Francis Crick, who codiscovcred the structure of DNA, published a provocative book titled Life Itself" Its Origin and Nature. Crick speculated that early in Earth's history a civilization from a distant planet had sent a...

A shell with a viewer: it takes a cool blood to feel the earth's warmth.
February 1, 2006... I was gone for more than a week before they found me. A rustling in the beanfield, heavy steps nearby. A shout--a boy s voice--more shouts. Thomas the gardener catches me up in his hands with sickening haste. I weigh six pounds thirteen ounces....

Going with the flow: an underground stream links two scenic spots.(Grand Gulf, Mammoth Spring )
February 1, 2006... As natural attractions "worth a detour" (as the guidebooks have it), Grand Gulf and Mammoth Spring live up to their names. They also share a physical connection, though they lie miles apart in two different states. But more on that connection...

Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind.(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind by David Berreby Little, Brown and Company, 2005; $26. 95 The stereotype," as the journalist and political commentator Walter Lippmann wrote in his 1922 book, Public Opinion, "saves time in a...

In the Company of Crows and Ravens.(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell Yale University Press, 2005; $30.00 Crows and ravens, among the commonest of birds, command our attention more insistently than do any of our other flying friends....

Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches.(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches by Jill Fredston Harcourt, Inc., 2005; $24.00 Snowstruck, a kind of sequel to Jill Fredston's book Rowing to Latitude, answers a question her earlier knuckle-biter may have left hanging. Why would any...

Wave files.(web sites of Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, 2004's pictures)
February 1, 2006... For anyone not affected by the Indonesian tsunami, memory of the catastrophe has begun to fade. Nevertheless, a year later, it's worth remembering the tragedy and asking what's being done to save people from future killer waves. The tsunami of...

Fyi reader service.(travel industry)(Directory)
February 1, 2006... 1. ADVENTURE CANADA Travel on the 104-passenger, zodiac-equipped M/S Explorer and discover the art, culture and wildlife of Arctic Canada and Greenland with our team of artists, scientists, and culturalists. 2. ADVENTURE LIFE JOURNEYS...

Cosmic cosmetics: astronomers have found lots of nail-polish remover and sunless tanning lotion in space.
February 1, 2006... It's Earth-year 6526 and you find yourself cruising interstellar space. But--drat!--your nail polish is chipped. And how will you ever restore your earthy, bronze-goddess glow so far from the tanning fight of any sunlike star? Great Hubble's...

The sky in February.
February 1, 2006... At the beginning of February Mercury has just passed behind the Sun and sets too soon after sunset to be seen. But by the 9th the speedy planet should be visible to viewers with binoculars, just above the west-southwestern horizon near where...

Islands generate bird biodiversity.(At the Museum: American Museum of Natural History)
February 1, 2006... Island life sounds quite appealing in winter months as many of us migrate to warmer and lusher locales. Islands and their flora and fauna also hold a special fascination for scientists and naturalists, as they've discovered islands' rich...

African-American History Month.(At the Museum: American Museum of Natural History)
February 1, 2006... Kids and families enjoy the Museum's annual celebration of African-American History Month. This year, over three Saturdays, February 11, 18, and 25, the Museum celebrates the past, present, and future of black theater in the United States with...

Identification Day.(At the Museum: American Museum of Natural History)
February 1, 2006... The Museum's 17th annual Identification Day will be held on Sunday, February 12, in honor of the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. As in years past, the public is invited to bring their natural-history mysteries--shells, rocks, insects,...

Darwin Digital Library of Evolution.(At the Museum: American Museum of Natural History)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Launched in conjunction with the exhibition Darwin, the Darwin Digital Library of Evolution (DDLE), at http://darwinlibrary.amnh.org, is the first Web site dedicated to the intellectual genesis and growth of Darwin's theory of evolution. This...

Darwin.(At the Museum: American Museum of Natural History)
February 1, 2006... A child is captivated by the live iguana featured in Darwin. This stunning exhibition, which will be on view until May 29, 2006, appeals to all ages and offer a comprehensive, engaging look at the life and times of Charles Darwin. Other live...

Christie Stephenson Assistant Director for Digital and Special Collections Research Library.(PEOPLE AT THE AMNH)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... As Assistant Director for Digital and Special Collections, Christie Stephenson seems thrilled to talk about her new position at the Museum. Bringing years of experience along with master's degrees in library science and art history, Christie's...

Museum events: American Museum of Natural History.
February 1, 2006... EXHIBITIONS Darwin Through May 29, 2006 Featuring live animals, actual fossil specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and manuscripts, this magnificent exhibition offers visitors a comprehensive, engaging exploration of the life...

Stunt double.
February 1, 2006... Science museums are not always the sedate repositories you stroll through on your tour of their galleries. Exciting research goes on behind the scenes, out of sight of visitors. Sometimes even long-held samples from the collections take a star...