Sacha Vignieri

3 weeks ago | science.org | Sarah Crespi |Sacha Vignieri |Jonathan Moens

frans lemmens/Alamy Stock Photo First up on the podcast, freelance journalist Jonathan Moens talks with host Sarah Crespi about a forensic test called brain electrical oscillation signature profiling, which police in India are using along with other techniques to try to tell whether a suspect participated in a crime, despite these technologies’ extremely shaky scientific grounding. Next on the show, scientists have recently made strides in our understanding of horses, from identifying the...

1 month ago | science.org | Guan Wang |Jedediah F. Brodie |Thao-Quyen Nguyen |Sacha Vignieri

Natural History The bone collectorSacha VignieriBone collector caterpillars, seen here, evade detection by forming a portable case made of discarded insect body parts. PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII INSECT SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY LABThe vast majority of lepidopteran caterpillars are herbivorous. Those that break this rule tend to do so in unexpected ways, such as the Hawaiian inchworm, which is an ambush predator. Rubinoff et al.

2 months ago | science.org | Adrian A. Davin |Rob Cooke |Zepeng Fang |Sacha Vignieri

Animal Communication Closer than we thoughtSacha VignieriWild bonobos extensively use complex vocal utterances, not unlike how humans combine elements in speech. One hallmark of human language is the combination of elements into larger meaningful structures, a pattern referred to as compositionality. Compositionality can be trivial, in which the two parts are added together to give meaning, or nontrivial, in which the meaning in one part modifies the meaning in the other.

2 months ago | science.org | Adrian A. Davin |Rob Cooke |Zepeng Fang |Sacha Vignieri

Camouflage Hiding in plain sightSacha VignieriBroadclub cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) mimic the shapes and coloration of leaves and coral to sneak up on prey. Cuttlefish are known for their amazing ability to produce color and texture patterns on their skin using muscularly controlled chromatophores and papillae. These animals have been shown to use this control flexibly across a wide array of conditions to hide or mimic. How et al.

Mar 6, 2025 | science.org | Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez |Jennifer Hill |Zijian Zhang |Sacha Vignieri

Conservation A patchwork won’t workSacha VignieriHuman activity adjacent to protected areas like the Central Suriname Nature Preserve still has negative effects on sensitive species within. PHOTO: ARIADNE VAN ZANDBERGEN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTOOpen in viewerContinued human population growth has led to biodiversity loss. Our response to this problem has been to establish specific protected areas.