Christopher Joyce

Is the sky the limit for wind power?

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:34:34 +0000

Wind power is growing faster than ever — almost half of the new sources of electricity added to the U.S. power grid last year were wind farms.

But is the sky the limit? Several scientists now say it's actually possible to have so many turbines that they start to lose power.

Sexy dino, show me your feathers - if that's why you have 'em

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:06:14 +0000

Some of the weirdest animal behavior is about romance. That's especially true with birds — they croon or dance or display brilliant feathers to seduce the reluctant.

This sort of sexual display apparently has a long pedigree: There's now new evidence that some dinosaurs may have used the same come-on.

The source is a kind of dinosaur that was built like a 400-pound ostrich. It lived about 75 million years ago and is called ornithomimus, meaning "bird mimic."

Scientists in Canada found the fossilized bones of one in 1995 that looked different from what they'd seen before.

When fire met meat, the brains of early humans grew bigger

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:46:48 +0000

If you're reading this blog, you're probably into food. Perhaps you're even one of those people whose world revolves around your Viking stove and who believes that cooking defines us as civilized creatures.

Well, on the latter part, you'd be right. At least according to some neuroscientists from Brazil.

They noticed (haven't we all?) that humans have very big brains. But they point out that gorillas and orangutans have bigger bodies than we do by far, but smaller brains and fewer neurons. Normally, brain size pretty much matches body size in primates.

The beluga that sang like humans speak

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 04:14:15 +0000

Whales are among the great communicators of the animal world. They produce all sorts of sounds: squeaks, whistles and even epic arias worthy of an opera house.

And one whale in particular has apparently done something that's never been documented before: He imitated human speech.

The beluga, or white whale, is smallish as whales go and very cute, if you're into marine mammals.

What drove early man across the globe? Climate change

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:06:55 +0000

Anthropologists believe early humans evolved in Africa and then moved out from there in successive waves. However, what drove their migrations has been a matter of conjecture.

One new explanation is climate change.

How glass kills birds and what we can do about it

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:54:35 +0000

First of a two-part series. Read Part 2.

Modern architecture loves glass. Glass makes interiors brighter and adds sparkle to cityscapes. But glass also kills millions of birds every year when they collide with windows. Biologists say as more glass buildings go up, more birds are dying.

So a group of biologists and architects is trying to do something about that. You'll find some of them at the Powdermill Avian Research Center in western Pennsylvania.

Famous cave paintings might not be from humans

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:09:18 +0000

The famous paintings on the walls of caves in Europe mark the beginning of figurative art and a great leap forward for human culture.

But now a novel method of determining the age of some of those cave paintings questions their provenance. Not that they're fakes — only that it might not have been modern humans who made them.

The first European cave paintings are thought to have been made over 30,000 years ago. Most depict animals and hunters.

Is Japanese dock a Noah's Ark or a Trojan Horse?

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:49:52 +0000

A bizarre event has drawn scientists to a beach in Oregon — a floating concrete dock from Japan has washed ashore. It had been ripped from its moorings by last year's tsunami and floated across the Pacific.

The dock is encrusted with mussels, barnacles and other marine life from Asia. Scientists are amazed these organisms survived the 14-month voyage, but they're also worried some of these organisms could become pests in U.S. waters.

Marine biologist John Chapman heard about the dock last Tuesday.

The dinosaurs' nemeses: giant, jurassic fleas

Christopher Joyce — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:49:57 +0000

Fossil-hunting scientists are coming to grips with a new discovery that could change forever how we think of dinosaurs. What they've found is that dinosaurs may well have been tortured by large, flealike bloodsucking insects.

Yes, it appears that the greatest predators that ever roamed Earth suffered just as we mammals did — and as we still do.

Scientists Link Rise In Quakes To Wastewater Wells

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:05:46 +0000

Scientists who watch for earthquakes have discovered a big increase in the number of small quakes in the middle of the country. It's an area that's usually pretty quiet geologically.

The scientists suspect the quakes are caused by wastewater wells. They plan to discuss their findings later this month at a seismology conference, but they've shared the basics with NPR.

Bill Ellsworth, a seismologist at the U.S.