Virginia Morell

Oct 24, 2024 | science.org | Christie Wilcox |Sarah Crespi |Angela Saini |Virginia Morell

In today’s Logbook, Science Deputy News Editor Shraddha Chakradhar reflects on this week’s feature story. But first, catch up on the latest science news, including how cutting down trees led to lighter-colored stoneflies and how so-called jumping genes help prevent pregnancy-related anemia.

Oct 24, 2024 | science.org | Sarah Crespi |Angela Saini |Virginia Morell

Ishida et al./Science Robotics First up this week, a new study of an iconic ecosystem doesn’t support the “landscape of fear” concept. This is the idea that bringing back apex predators has a huge impact on the behavior of their prey, eventually altering the rest of the ecosystem. Host Sarah Crespi talks with Contributing Correspondent Virginia Morell about the findings. Next, using bioinspired robotics to explore deep time. Michael Ishida, a postdoctoral researcher in the Bio-Inspired...

Oct 23, 2024 | science.org | Virginia Morell

In 1995, officials began to reintroduce wolves to northern Yellowstone National Park, restoring a symbol of wilderness and seemingly triggering an ecological transformation. Elk had been overrunning the park, because most of their predators had been hunted out. But the few dozen returning wolves apparently had an outsize impact. They created a “landscape of fear,” scaring elk away from their favorite dining spots of aspen stands and willow thickets.

Jul 10, 2024 | science.org | Erik Stokstad |Virginia Morell

A premier natural history museum has made hard choices to close a budget gap in its new financial year, which began this month. The 171-year-old California Academy of Sciences (CAS) safeguards more than 46 million specimens, including the largest collection of plants and animals from the Galápagos Islands, in its iconic building in San Francisco. Now, its leadership has imposed a 5% cut to the organization’s 600-plus workforce, with a disproportionately greater impact on CAS’s science division.

Jun 10, 2024 | science.org | Virginia Morell

Leaping over waves or body surfing side by side, dolphins are a fun-loving bunch. But their frolicking—and that of species from hyenas to humans—has long baffled evolutionary biologists. Why expend so much energy on play? A new study offers an intriguing explanation: Juvenile male dolphins use play to acquire the skills required for fathering calves, researchers report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.