Natural Selections
Conversations about the natural world with Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley, from member-supported North Country Public Radio
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Shrews: living in the fast lane
Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley revisit this feisty predator, ...
Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley revisit this feisty predator, whose fierce reputation comes from a high metabolism and the need to consume 80-90 percent of their body weight in food each day to survive. The small insectivore is active throughout the winter and shrinks in size until spring.
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Is it OK to create a glow-in-the-dark bunny?
Gene sculpting has gained cautious acceptance for medical research and ...
Gene sculpting has gained cautious acceptance for medical research and treatment, but a bioluminescent rabbit created by a "transgenic artist" for aesthetic purposes pushes the limits of the debate. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss the implications of Alba, the glowing bunny.
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Is it OK to create a glow-in-the-dark bunny?
Gene sculpting has gained cautious acceptance for medical research and ...
Gene sculpting has gained cautious acceptance for medical research and treatment, but a bioluminescent rabbit created by a "transgenic artist" for aesthetic purposes pushes the limits of the debate. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss the implications of Alba, the glowing bunny.
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How are pencil leads and diamonds made from the same stuff?
Pencil leads and diamonds are chemically identical; the difference is ...
Pencil leads and diamonds are chemically identical; the difference is in the crystal structure. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about carbon crystals, and what it take to form a natural diamond.
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Daddy Long Legs: not quite a spider
This familiar household "spider" is not a spider, but an ...
This familiar household "spider" is not a spider, but an ancient near relative in the arachnid family. Martha Foley and Curt stager discuss its characteristics, and how it differs from other creepy crawlies.
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What makes a new species?
What draws the line between one species and another? Scientists ...
What draws the line between one species and another? Scientists believe new species diverge when mutations occur that make it impossible to interbreed. Sometimes the mutation is very small. A case in point is humans and chimpanzees. Curt Stager told Martha Foley the key difference came when two short chromosomes in the chimp joined to form one long chromosome in humans.
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Can Adirondack lake trout survive climate change?
Lake trout require a lot of cold oxygenated water to ...
Lake trout require a lot of cold oxygenated water to survive. Lakes in the Adirondacks are at the southern edge of their natural range. While about 100 lakes and ponds there are still home to lake trout, even a small increase in temperature could sharply cut that number. Martha Foley and Curt Stager discuss the long-term prospects of a signature Adirondack aquatic species.
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Are your tonsils as useless as they seem?
Your tonsils, when infected, may be useful to doctors in ...
Your tonsils, when infected, may be useful to doctors in keeping up their bottom line, and to popsicle vendors in providing the means to soothe recovering children. But it seems they do also have a use, when healthy, as part of the front line of the human immune system. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss an oft-removed portion of the human anatomy.
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Nature journals put the history in natural history
Martha Foley has never succeeded in keeping a nature journal ...
Martha Foley has never succeeded in keeping a nature journal long-term, but Curt Stager finds them invaluable in his work. He records his observations on paper, but also finds great data through researching the journals of past observers, from Samuel de Champlain to Thomas Jefferson, to ordinary little-known North Country folk.His hintâalways put it on paper. Whatever became of all that stuff on your floppy diskettes?
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Fun and games when it's way too cold
In some places, winter is just too long to ignore. ...
In some places, winter is just too long to ignore. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley explore some ways to have fun in extreme cold, everything from throwing hot water up into the air to guessing the temperature by the facial-hair scale.
