Devin Reese

Tasmanian tigers may have outlived their extinction date
They weren’t really tigers, but they were Tasmanian, ranging from Tasmania to Australia and New Guinea. After they were hunted to extinction in the wild, the last “thylacine” (official name; Thylacinus cynocephalus) was this one that died in 1936 in an Australian Zoo. Or was it?
Since then, multiple people reported sightings of the striped, wolf-like creatures nicknamed Tasmanian Tigers. Many of the observations — such as blurry photos ...

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Last week, a fiery meteor streaked across the sky, then burst into bits over the border of Maine and Canada. As a time capsule from our solar system, the bits are so scientifically valuable that a Maine Museum is offering $25K for the first piece weighing at least 2.2 lbs. Find it! Or read on about rainbows, plant talk, and jellyfish nutrition.

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As the pandemic raged, Pope Francis took a solo mindful moment in rainy Saint Peter's Square to remind us to “row together,” see HERE. Now his message is going to space on a satellite, in case it didn’t reach its intended target from Earth. While we wait for the June launch, read about cockroach sex, mice playing VR games, and allergies.

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T. rex depictions like THESE show sharp teeth protruding in a menacing manner even when its big mouth is closed. But a new study of jawbone pores finds that theropod dinos like T. rex had fleshy lips that would have made their teeth less obvious. So, relax and read on about mummified rams, cockroach sex, and XYZ.

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If you missed the free Northern Lights show in more than half of U.S. states on March 23, see it HERE. The atmosphere was painted neon by a magnetic field shift that allowed solar wind to slip through a crack in Earth’s magnetosphere? Looks scary on this NOAA site. Best to read on about megamouth sharks, eggy paints, and bioengineering.

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Thirsty, anyone? As freshwater supplies decline on Earth, we might look to the Moon for hydration. A new study reports billions of tons of water stored in natural glass beads from meteoroid impacts that — when heated — might release it. While astrophysicists sort that out, read about pig snouts, Beethoven’s DNA, and nature foolery.

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If you want potatoes in your Mars cuisine, you may be out of luck, but rice is likely to grace the menu. Crop scientists reported that rice can grow in Martian soil with manageable genetic modifications. Plus, on the prep side, “You just peel off the husk and start boiling.” So read on about life’s chemistry, beetle butts, and pesky pathogens.

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On March 28th, look to the skies shortly after sunset to see five planets lined up, a rare spectacle from our Earth perspective. Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Uranus (in descending order of brightness) will align, although you may need binoculars for the last two. Meanwhile, read about bug robots, combinatorics, and carbon cycles.

You may have seen bright orange Monarch butterflies around your neighborhood at certain times of the year. As winter sets in, populations of monarchs from the US and Canada migrate south to Mexico to their overwintering spots. There, they shelter by the millions in forests of Oyamel trees, something they’ve been doing for so long that local people consider monarchs the souls of their ancestors. The monarchs arrive there in early November, coinciding with the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) i...

Jane Baldwin is a storm chaser, only her mode of chasing is computational modeling using multiple streams of data. As an Assistant Professor of Earth System Science at UC Irvine, she models how hurricanes and other natural hazards respond to atmospheric dynamics. We talked to Jane about the challenge of forecasting not just the damage to buildings from cyclones, but also the economic and social impacts. And how climate change factors into the outcomes.
This episode was produced by Devin Reese.

Only birds and some mammals (humans and other primates, whales, seals, elephants, bats, goats, mole rats, mice) are known to learn by hearing. Of those, birds are the most distantly related to humans. Yet they show similarities to humans in the way they learn to communicate.

Imagine that you are standing on a grassy plain. As you gaze across the grass, you see two dogs interacting. The bigger dog freezes, tenses its body, and fixes its eyes on the smaller dog. Its lips curl, and it lets out a rumbling growl as the smaller dog stands its ground. The hair on the big dog’s neck bristles up as it moves forward. The smaller dog yelps as it turns its head, tucks its tail in, and flattens its ears. The big dog relaxes and sniffs the smaller dog’s head and butt. Sound fa...

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You never know what stories old photos may tell. Researchers analyzing 1990-1992 images of Venus noticed a widened vent in the Maat Mons volcano, evidence that there’d been an eruption, which means Venus is volcanically active! So, hold onto the old photos albums and read about parasitic queens, dizzy apes, and errant whales.

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Have authorities lost their minds in planning to release 100,000 mosquitoes into Ecuador? No! The mosquitoes were sterilized with radiation, and their infusion into the natural populations on the Galápagos Islands may reduce disease transmission. So, relax and read about giant ants, new spacesuits, and water in the universe.

I joined a group of volunteers recently who were getting ready to attack exotic invasive plants on the banks of Lubber Run stream. The site—Woodlawn Park—is a small park tucked into a residential neighborhood in Arlington. Perhaps its diminutive size explains how well its invasive plants are being addressed, or perhaps it should be credited to the enthusiasm and dedication of its volunteers.