natural science

The Cicadas Are Coming!

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:44:38 +0000

Drive south of the Massachusetts border this summer and you’re bound to hear the deafening buzz of the 17-year cicada. From the Carolinas to Connecticut, residents can expect a full-on plague of these large, loud, winged creatures to emerge after nearly two decades of underground hibernation. We wanted to better understand these bizarre bugs – called “brood-two” cicadas - so we called biologist Joe Hanson, host and writer of PBS digital studios’ It’s Okay To Be Smart.

And if you're interested in a cheap snack this summer, David George Gordon is author of The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook. We called him to ask, what does a Cicada taste like?

Genetically Engineered … Mosquitoes?

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0000

EarthTalk®
E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I couldn’t believe my ears: “genetically engineered mosquitoes?” Why on Earth would they be created? And I understand there are plans to release them into the wild? -- Marissa Abingdon, Sumter, SC

Just How Big Are The Eyes Of A Giant Squid?

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:08:00 +0000

Giant and colossal squids can be more than 40 feet long, if you measure all the way out to the tip of their two long feeding tentacles. But it's their eyes that are truly huge — the size of basketballs.

Now, scientists say these squids may have the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom because they need to detect a major predator, the sperm whale, as it moves toward them through the underwater darkness.

"It's always been a vexing question, of why they have such large eyes," says Roger Hanlon, a biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

To the Ends of the Earth for an Eel

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Richard Conniff, Guggenheim Fellow and Guest Columnist for the New York Times discusses his new book "The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life On Earth".