Insects trapped in amber have long provided a window on the prehistoric world. Now scientists in France are using a particle accelerator called a Synchrotron to scan opaque amber and create 3-D models of these insects in exquisite detail. But not just that. The Synchrotron’s also letting us look inside these insects to see what they ate millions of years ago. This story of mine aired on PRI’s The World.
And check out this video I made to accompany the radio piece:
Many of the things we buy come fresh out of the box, new and glistening. But get something second-hand, and that object has lived out at least one life with somebody else before you even see it. What would it be like to get a glimpse of that other life?
Find out in my piece that aired on PRI’s The World.
Here are a few of the items featured in the story:
There are efforts afoot to preserve Lebanon’s legendary cedar trees. These cedars have been an important part of life in the region for at least eight thousand years, but they’re vanishing from the landscape.
This piece aired today on The World, and it will be part of our audio series for the Encyclopedia of Life as well.
I also produced a short audio slideshow with some photos and extra audio from my reporting of the story. You can watch that right here:
I have a piece about the precarious status of foothill yellow legged frogs in California airing this morning on KQED’s QUEST program (630a and 830a PST). You can find the story and a short blog entry that I wrote by clicking here.
Some people have all the luck. Summer Praetorius, a grad student at Oregon State University, has an unusual ability to find four-leaf clovers.
This piece aired on NPR’s Morning Edition today. It’s an excerpt from one episode in an audio series called One Species at a Time from the Encyclopedia of Life, and produced by Atlantic Public Media.
In Boston and elsewhere, the housing crisis has led to fraud targeted at Spanish-speaking communities. When the 3-story house of Angel Blas – a Peruvian man now living in Everett, MA – was in danger of foreclosure, he was approached by a law firm that promised to help out. The law firm charged $3500, but Blas says nothing happened once they got the money. Now Blas is working with Greater Boston Legal Services to get his situation back in order. This piece aired yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered.
What’s it like to be eyeball to eyeball with a fish the size of a Volkswagen? Learn about tagging Atlantic bluefin tuna and how those tags are revealing surprises that might help save the fish from their own popularity in sushi restaurants. It’s just one of the episodes of our audio series for the Encyclopedia of Life.
Thirty-five years ago, Antarctica was filled with the roar of thousands and thousands of Adélie penguins, but today things are eerily quiet. Dr. Bill Fraser, who has watched over and studied the Adélie penguins in Antarctica for decades, views their decline as a personal loss. You can listen to the audio at this post, and watch the visuals by clicking here.
This piece is 1 of 4 audio slideshows describing how the life and ice of Antarctica are dealing with climate change. Find the others here.
Here’s a story about dinoflagellates told via “music from the bottom of the food chain.” We teamed up with fellow science contributor Josh Kurz and musician Shane Winter over at Higher Mammals to create this podcast for the Encyclopedia of Life about the billions of these microscopic creatures in every bucket of the salty sea.
1. Receive email updates.
3. Get alerts as a Facebook fan.
