Natural Selections

(Jul 9, 2020) In most cases, we get half our genes from one parent, half from the other. But it doesn't always happen that way. Parts of the genetic inheritance can be turned on or off, and genes from other familial sources can play a role in shaping the individual body. Martha Foley and Curt Stager explore what happens when there are ripples in the gene pool.

(Oct 21, 2021) The pressure to keep billions of humans fed can have a transformative impact on amimal populations. Overharvesting that targets the largest animals can result in reduction of the average size of species, as seen in Caribbean conch snails. And sport-fishing pressure on large mouth bass can winnow out the most agressive in the gene pool, resulting in a "lazier," more passive remnant population. Martha Foley and Curt Stager talk about the human factor in animal evolution.

(Oct 14, 2021) Keratin, the substance wool, hair, and feathers are made from, makes a pretty thin diet, but the clothes moth has been dogging humanity's closets and drawers for hundreds of years, unravelling the work of generations of knitters and weavers to feed its larvae.

(Oct 7, 2021) Of all the places a cat can hang out, why do do many of them want to hang out in boxes? According to researchers, cats that spend time in close confines are measurably less stressed than those remaining in the open. As Curt Stager tells Martha Foley, it's not just house cats who feel this way.

(Sep 30, 2021) 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 hint - always put it on paper. Whatever became of all that stuff on your floppy diskettes?

(Sep 23, 2021) Humans, birds, and whales are not the only creatures who can sing. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss recent research that uncovered bats also use learned songs to communicate.

(Sep 16, 2021) We tend to think that dogs do this, and that cats do that. We think animal species have a recognizable set of behaviors that define the nature of their kind. But what about individual animals? Does each have something we could understand as a unique personality?

(Sep 9, 2021) The complex web of species interaction is full of odd associations. Stocking a lake with fish cuts down on dragonflies, which helps pollinators, which helps the flowers bloom. Or it can cut down on amphibians such as newts, which is bad for garter snakes. Invasive flowering purple loosestrife is good for insects and birds that feed on them, but hard on plankton, which is at the bottom of the food chain for everything. Martha Foley and Curt Stager look an unintended consequences of human actions in nature.

(Sep 2, 2021) Martha Foley? - not a fan of bugs. And Curt Stager took a course on them to steady his own reactions. The Natural Selections team looks at the outliers on the spectrum, the largest and smallest of critters with too many legs. New Zealand's weta makes a real handful. The fairy fly is nearly invisible. Some prehistoric dragonflies were big enough to make off with the cat.

(Aug 26, 2021) All creatures breathe in some fashion, but how the job gets done has changed from fish to amphibian to reptile to mammal. Curt Stager and Martha Foley chart the evolution of animal respiration.

(Aug 19, 2021) The ubiquitous bird of cities and towns was designed for a different environment. The pigeon's distinctive style of flight is adapted for maneuverability in tight places - near vertical takeoffs and quick changes of direction. This adaptation to cliff and mountainside environments serves them well among our urban cliff dwellings. Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss.

(Aug 12, 2021) Pigeons and doves, both domestic and feral, are the same species. Today's urban environment mimics their original favored habitat, seaside cliffs in Europe and Asia. Martha Foley and Curt Stager discuss this commonest bird companion in densely settled areas.

(Aug 5, 2021) The Northern Flicker is one of the most recognizable birds. This distinctly-marked member of the woodpecker family, instead of browsing wood for their food like their relatives, digs for food in the ground. Martha Foley and Curt Stager explore its habits.

(Jul 29, 2021) Animals that resemble each other may not be closely related. Sometimes the setting shapes their bodies more than their ancestry. Manatees may look like whales or walruses, but that is only because they adapted to the marine environment in a similar way. Martha Foley and Curt stager talk about convergent evolution.

(Jul 22, 2021) The big marine herbivore, the manatee, is thought by some to be the origin of mermaid legends, but it's not closely related to humankind or even to whales and other marine mammals.

(Jul 15, 2021) Lake trout require a lot of cold, oxygenated water to survive. Lakes in the Adirondacks of upstate New York are at the southern edge of their natural range. Although about 100 Adirondack lakes and ponds are still home to lake trout, even a small increase in temperature could sharply cut that number.

(Jul 8, 2021) Researchers have found that variations in the wingspan of cliff swallows has a measurable impact on their survival in a human-dominated environment.

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(May 27, 2021) A coral reef is kind of like Manhattan, a huge number of mouths to feed in a packed parcel of real estate. A reef doesn't have upstate farms to keep them all fed. So how do they get by?

(May 20, 2021)

(May 13, 2021) Few creatures move with more grace than deer. Martha Foley compares them to ballerinas. Curt Stager says there's a reason for that. As ballerinas often do, deer walk on their tip-toes.

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(Apr 15, 2021) Curt Stager has his students start the semester by picking out a "pet rock." At the end of term, they have to tell the story of that rock - what it is, what it's made of, and what happened to shape it it over the ages.

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(Mar 18, 2021) You can get the sugar out of a lot of trees, but there's something special about the sugar maple. Its trunk is highly efficient at storing and moving sap. That's in part because the sap is stored throughout the trunk, rather then down in the roots, as with most trees in winter. Martha Foley and Curt Stager look at that other "sweet science," the one behind our favorite breakfast condiment.

(Mar 11, 2021)

(Mar 4, 2021) Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss cosmic rays. While many people may think cosmic rays only affect astronauts or satellites - objects in space - computers and other electronic equipment on Earth can be affected, too.

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(Feb 11, 2021) In general, plants make food from sunlight, and animals fuel themselves by "burning" oxygen. But some animals think outside the box. Curt Stager and Martha Foley look at a photosynthetic slug that hijacks the genetic machinery of the algae in its diet, and at a jellyfish that needs no oxygen, burning the alternative fuels of hydrogen and sulfur.

(Feb 4, 2021) "In the case of the voles and the shrews, they'll actually shrink their total body mass down, so there's less body to have to be fed."

(Jan 28, 2021) It's the reason opposites attract and doorknobs shock, why lightning strikes, and the way bumblebees find the sweet spot in flowers. Whenever an object has more or fewer electrons than its neighbor, there is the potential for static discharge. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about the mysterious and hair-raising ways of static electricity.

(Jan 21, 2021) What is a flame? Why is it shaped like that? How does it keep going? Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager answer some burning questions about rapid oxidation.

(Jan 14, 2021) Dr. Curt Stager tries once again to answer the classic child's question. It is a poser that was worthy of Einstein's time, who eventually came up with the best answer. But it's complicated. And when the sky isn't blue, why not? What's up with that? Martha Foley wants to know.

(Jan 7, 2021) The differing qualities of snow can determine the safety of structures, the back strain of shovelers and the danger of avalanche. Scientists look at how fast it falls, how it forms in the air, and whether or not it clumps into fat flakes to determine what impact it will have on those of us below. Every snowflake is unique, and so is every snowfall.

(Dec 31, 2020) Since our bodies replace most cells over a period of a few years, it raises the question "Is any part of us original equipment?" According to Curt Stager and Martha Foley, the answer is "Yes." Parts of the eyes and teeth, as well as many nerve and (bad news for dieters) fat cells last a lifetime.

(Dec 24, 2020) Rarely seen during the day, flying squirrels don't actually fly, but use flaps of skin that connect their fore and hind legs that enable them to glide up to a hundred feet, between trees and from tree to ground.

(Dec 10, 2020) Snowy owls are normally a rare sight in North Country. Their usual range is in the Arctic north. But a few years ago, a large number were seen all across the region. Martha Foley asked Dr. Curt Stager why that has happened.

(Dec 3, 2020) Unlike frogs, turtles don't hibernate through the winter. In fact, sometimes you can see snappers and other species moving around under the ice. While their metabolism runs at very low ebb in the cold, they remain alert to changes in light and temperature that signal the coming spring. How do they survive without oxygen? As Paul Smith's College biologist Curt Stager tells Martha Foley, they get energy from their body tissues, and their shells neutralize the resulting lactic acid build-up.

(Nov 26, 2020) Martha Foley and Curt Stager talk about ochre. It’s more than just a color in the Crayola box.

(Nov 19, 2020) In the second in our series about the biological marketplace, Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager look into the beehive. Although some worker bees might try to "cheat" and introduce their own eggs into the genetic pool of the hive, other workers will detect and destroy them. The queen presides over a society that shares her DNA, but it is run more like a police state than a family.

(Nov 12, 2020) Symbiotes are species that must collaborate with another to survive. But some partners are more equal than others. Martha Foley and Curt Stager talk about how organisms monitor cheaters in symbiotic relationships. This is the first of two conversations about the biological marketplace.

(Nov 5, 2020) Horns and antlers are more than different variations on animal head gear. Antlers are temporary and contain no actual bone. Horns are for keeps. Martha Foley and Curt Stager discuss pointy-headed creatures.