Multimedia

Video blogs, video series, podcasts, science art, photo essays

#584 Time for the Gory Details

Rachelle Saunders General Science, Multimedia
There are lots of things about the natural world many people like to avoid, or even pretend don't exist. Like the mites that are the same size and shape as the pores on our faces, or how likely it is that your dog will eat you when you die. Luckily, some people don't want to avoid those topics, and this week we're here with one of them. Host Bethany Brookshire talks with Erika Engelhaupt about…

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Wooing widows

pineapplesandwhales Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Multimedia
Sexual selection can be a powerful force in nature (remember these moths and their antennae?). This form of selection is propelled by how picky the choosers are. But choosiness depends on a lot of factors– and not just on how good of a dancer or a fighter a potential mate is! The stakes are pretty high for male black widow spiders because if they fail to impress, they could get eaten. In this infographic we’re…

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Christa McAuliffe commemorative coin

Emily Damstra Multimedia
I remember thinking, as a youth, that I could choose any career I wanted, but I’m pretty sure l never considered that I might not be good at some of them. Such naïveté! Over the years, I’ve come to learn that there are many, many professions for which I would be ill-suited, and managing a classroom full of young students is one of them. That’s one reason I have enormous admiration and respect for those…

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Christa McAuliffe commemorative coin

Emily Damstra Multimedia
I remember thinking, as a youth, that I could choose any career I wanted, but I’m pretty sure l never considered that I might not be good at some of them. Such naïveté! Over the years, I’ve come to learn that there are many, many professions for which I would be ill-suited, and managing a classroom full of young students is one of them. That’s one reason I have enormous admiration and respect for those…

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The right temperature

pineapplesandwhales Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Multimedia
Parallel evolution is a famous thought experiment in evolutionary biology. The biologist Stephen J Gould wondered what would happen if you pressed “reset” on the Earth. Would the same forms of life evolve in the same ways? We still don’t know! But a cool new way to test this idea has presented itself in recent years: evolution in cities. This infographic is based on a paper in Nature Ecology and Evolution: Parallel selection on thermal…

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The state of Beaufort belugas

pineapplesandwhales Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Multimedia
Belugas, AKA “canaries of the sea.” Their chatty vocalizations earned them this nickname, but they’re canaries in more way than one. Like canaries in coalmines, biologists look to belugas to get insight into how changing conditions in the Arctic affect marine mammals and associated ecosystems. This infographic is based on work published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Check out the full paper here (open access): Body condition impacts blood and muscle oxygen storage capacity…

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#583 The Unavoidable Complexities of Food

Rachelle Saunders General Science, Multimedia
We can definitely agree there is a lot about our current food systems that isn't sustainable. But what's harder to agree on is what we need to do to fix it for the better, while still ensuring everyone on the planet has enough to eat. Everyone has an opinion about what food we should eat and what food we shouldn't, what food systems are harmful and which are sustainable... but those opinions are often at…

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Black in ecology & evolution

pineapplesandwhales Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Multimedia
To help highlight Black excellence in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), we’re featuring papers by Black scientists in our upcoming infographics. Stay tuned for some seriously cool science! Find these infographics on our site by searching for the #BlackInEEB tag. We rounded up some links with more discussion about diversity and anti-racism initiatives in ecology & evolution, so be sure to check them out too: African Americans in evolutionary science: where we have been, and…

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Drowning on Purpose: Can humans breathe liquid?

Steve Kux and Geoff Lee General Science, Multimedia
With any luck, in your life you will get somewhere in the neighbourhood of 672,768,000 breaths. Most of those will be pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of their ingredients: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon. Occasionally you might mix it up if you end up in the hospital, go to space or hit up one of those weird oxygen bar things. You might even breathe in something nasty like cigarette smoke either on purpose (why?)…

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