UNCOVERED: 12 - Caught on Camera

Here's how we proved that tropical birds are more colourful – and why colour helps them survive

For many of us, the tropics conjure up thoughts of lush vegetation teaming with vibrant and strikingly colourful birds, insects and other creatures.

The Conversation · Apr 6, 2022

Charles Darwin's notebooks missing for 20 years returned to Cambridge

Naturalist Charles Darwin was best known for his theory of evolution. Two of his notebooks, which included his original sketches and remarks, worth millions of pounds went missing in 2001. And now, after 20 years the notebooks have been returned to Cambridge University’s library!

The Times of India · Apr 6, 2022

2 Darwin notebooks missing for 20 years returned to UK library

It’s a positive note.

Tribune News Service · Apr 5, 2022

First Thing: Zelenskiy warns of worse atrocities yet to be uncovered in Ukraine

Ukraine’s president prepares to address UN security council but casts doubt on meeting Putin. Plus, why it’s over for fossil fuels

The Guardian - UK · Apr 5, 2022

The rare Darwin specimen at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh shown on Antiques Roadshow

The episode also features a stunning set of traditional Highland dress that was once worn by a Highland chieftain

Edinburgh Live · Apr 3, 2022

163 years later, new research challenges Darwin's most famous theory about sex

Do Charles Darwin’s ideas on sexual selection hold up today? The biologist was very much of his time, which meant it may have shaped his understanding of evolutionary biology.

Inverse · Apr 2, 2022

'It has to be it!': Solving a long-running local art mystery

Knowing this column's penchant for a good mystery, Frank Bergersen invited me to accompany him on a mission to solve a long-standing local art conundrum

The Canberra Times · Mar 18, 2022

147 years after Darwin, flesh-eating plants still have scientists stumped

Carnivorous plants fascinate as much now as when their gruesome diet was first discovered. Molecular biology is helping botanists trace the origins of their predatory ways.

Inverse · Mar 7, 2022

150 years ago, Charles Darwin wrote about how expressions evolved – pre-empting modern psychology by a century

Was Charles Darwin a one-hit wonder? According to scientists who take a gene’s-eye view of evolution, the 19th-century English naturalist contributed one crucial idea to understanding how species change: natural selection, or “design without a designer”.

The Conversation · Feb 7, 2022

Fig wasp sex ratios show that not all of nature is by design

In his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, British naturalist Charles Darwin put forward his theory of natural selection. This, he argued, was the mechanism of biological evolution: like an animal or plant breeder selects for certain characteristics, individuals with better survival ability leave more offspring. In this way…

The Conversation · Feb 3, 2022