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A newly-discovered microbe that eats plastic in the cold is giving scientists hope

Currently, there is so much plastic junk in the ocean that a large garbage patch that is essentially an amorphous island twice as large as Texas that has been formed in the Pacific. When plastic isn’t clogging up our seas, it is creeping into our bodies: Microplastics, or particles five millimeters or less across or in length, have been found in human blood and breastmilk....

Originally posted on salon.com

Scientists once thought they understood how domestication worked. Now, they’re not so sure

Though dogs are so close genetically close to wolves that many taxonomists consider them to be a subspecies, most people wouldn’t let a wolf lick their hand as readily as a Shih Tzu. When animals are domesticated, as the dog was, their traits change; an artificial selection occurs over many generations, which, in the case of the dog, probably happened through unconscious selection bias among ancient humans and their canid hangers-on....

Originally posted on salon.com

“Secrets of the Elephants” reveals their uncanny ability to grieve and empathize

Tolstoy used to be a formidable elephant: Massive in size, revered by the young bulls, and with tusks so long they touched the ground. When he was alive, Tolstoy had been more than just some random animal. He was a beloved member of a close-knit community filled with colorful personalities.

That is why when he died – the victim of a spear wound inflicted while he had been innocently searching for food — other elephants visited his body to pay their respects. ...

Originally posted on salon.com

The scientist who discovered sperm was so grossed out he hoped his findings would be repressed

Human civilization had a good understanding of how sex and reproduction worked long before the microscope was invented. But it wasn’t until the 17th century that anyone knew what sperm actually were, or were aware of their strange appearance. And when sperm finally were formally discovered, by Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microbiology, he was so uncomfortable he wished he could unsee what he’d just observed....

Originally posted on salon.com

The scientist who discovered sperm was so grossed out he hoped his findings would be repressed

Human civilization had a good understanding of how sex and reproduction worked long before the microscope was invented. But it wasn’t until the 17th century that anyone knew what sperm actually were, or were aware of their strange appearance. And when sperm finally were formally discovered, by Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microbiology, he was so uncomfortable he wished he could unsee what he’d just observed....

Originally posted on salon.com