ScienceBard Media

Susanne Clara Bard creates multimedia content for science organizations, non-profits, museums, and c

12/17/2020

A new study sheds light on why it's so hard to learn to speak a new language, but reading and listening comprehension come more easily. My latest for Scientific American:

A study of adults learning a new language found that speaking primarily activated regions in the left side of the brain but reading and listening comprehension were much more variable.

11/24/2020

At the tail end of the age of the dinosaurs, a pony-sized duckbill dinosaur called Ajnabia roamed North Africa. But to get there, duckbill dinosaurs had to cross oceans.

A duckbill dinosaur jawbone found in Morocco means that dinosaurs crossed a large body of water to reach Africa.

10/14/2020

When blue whales sing their deep and resonant songs may indicate when they are about to migrate.

Blue whales off California’s coast sing at night—until it’s time to start migrating, and they switch to daytime song.

10/14/2020

Dogs are amazingly diverse. Selective breeding for a variety of traits created the breeds we have today. Play between humans and dogs was a key part of this process. My latest for Scientific American:

The ancestors of today’s dogs already exhibited some playfulness, which became a key trait during domestication.

08/03/2020

Police lineups are prone to error because our visual memories are flawed. But at the same time, we tend to believe what we "see" and extend that trust to other people, including eyewitnesses at crime scenes. Neuroscientists test a technique that could reduce misidentification of suspects and keep more innocent people out of prison. My latest podcast for Scientific American.

Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.

07/24/2020

In case you were wondering, before the 16th century, carrots were purple, white, and pale yellow thanks to pigments favored through selective breeding, the ancient Egyptians cultivated sweet watermelons with red flesh (wild watermelons are white inside), as well as wheat that is much taller than today's industrialized crops. What can art tell us about the history of agriculture? You can contribute to an online research database by submitting photos of crop foods in art at . Here is my latest podcast:

Art museums are filled with centuries-old paintings with details of plants that today give us clues about evolution and breeding practices.

07/20/2020

During the Civil War, soldiers were vaccinated against smallpox. Here is my latest podcast about the cool way scientists uncovered the virus doctors based the vaccine on. One thing I learned while researching this is that black soldiers in the Union army were 6 times more likely to get smallpox, and those who did were more likely to die from it. My guess is that poorer health care, living conditions, and racism were involved. Another thing I learned is that desperate soldiers tried to vaccinate themselves. Remember, hypodermic needles hadn't been invented, and viruses hadn't yet been discovered because they're tiny. This "spurious vaccination" often resulted in soldiers giving themselves syphilis and other diseases! ALSO, there's some evidence that people had gotten complacent about smallpox during the 19th century after the development of the vaccine, and that may have led to vaccine refusal! Just like today. Smallpox inoculation goes back a long time, but vaccination using viruses that are less deadly is a much more recent practice.

Vaccination used against smallpox during the Civil War reveals the identity of the distantly related virus used to keep troops disease free.

05/13/2020

Some bloody good news for once. Don't let the title fool you, tardigrades and sea-monkeys also figure prominently in this story. My latest for Scientific American.

Dehydrated blood that could keep at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts, and by tardigrades and brine shrimp to dry out and spring back with water.

04/03/2020

E-readers are cool. But what if you're an e-squid? Between their glowing bioluminescence and the rapidly changing patterns on their skin, these denizens of the deep may be passing important messages back and forth to each other. You know, the kind of communication that prevents high-speed collisions...and cannibalism. I interviewed Stanford biologist Ben Burford to find out how these creatures get their point across while still leaving everyone in the dark.

Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate.

04/01/2020

Swamp wallabies are pregnant ALL the time. I spoke to reproductive and behavioral biologist Marilyn Renfree from the University of Melbourne to find out more.

They're not born pregnant like tribbles, but swamp wallabies routinely get pregnant while pregnant.

04/01/2020

This ancient animal may be your oldest relative. My latest podcast for Scientific American.

The bilateral organism crawled on the seafloor, taking in organic matter at one end and dumping the remains out the other some 555 million years ago.

04/01/2020

What predicts which bird species will make it in urban environments? I spoke with biologist Ferran Sayol to find out in this Scientific American podcast.

To make it in urban areas, birds tend to be either large-brained and able to produce few offspring or small-brained and extremely fertile. In natural habitats, most birds brains are of average size.

Address

Washington D.C., DC

Telephone

+12024418976

Website

https://sciencebard.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when ScienceBard Media posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.