Researchers have found a genetic pattern in the saguaro and its cousins that could explain why many cactus species resist simple classification.
Plants like the cactus are tricky. Distant relatives can look like twins or evolve similar traits, thanks to phenomena like parallel and convergent evolution, both of which entail species evolving the same traits independently of one another.
Humans have long fixated on which mental traits distinguish us from other animals. Now, University of Arizona researchers are asking what our canine companions can tell us about ourselves.
In this feature, I take you behind the scenes of this laboratory and introduce you to some of its remarkable minds, both two- and four-legged.
Red Canyon wildfire at night. Photo courtesy of inciweb.nwcg.gov.
Bigger, hotter wildfires — and more of them — are becoming the new normal, and a combination of climate change, sub-par fire management and budget limitations are to blame, says an October 2017 National Wildlife Federation report.
The years 2015 and 2016 saw record levels of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, even though human carbon emissions have stabilized in recent years. Now, scientists think they know why.
