Science Times: Animals
Jason Holley
Animals and people. We have always been bound together. Humans are animals, after all. And each new bit of scientific research adds weight and complexity to our genetic intimacy, not just with primates, but with distant relatives like fruit flies and sponges. We share behaviors. We share homes and habitats. We consume each other. Mostly we eat them, a moral quandary for many people. But we still do feed multitudes of parasites, mosquitoes and the odd shark. This issue of Science Times is devoted to our many bonds with animals, and also to the distance between us and them. No other animal makes operas or nuclear weapons. How did we become so different? What made us human?
Christopher Silas Neal
The Creature Connection
By NATALIE ANGIER
Our love for animals can be traced to our capacity to infer the mental states of others, which archaeological evidence suggests emerged more than 50,000 ago.
From Single Cells, a Vast Kingdom Arose
By CARL ZIMMER
The beginning of animals is one of the more mysterious episodes in the history of life, and intermediate species are extinct.
ESSAY
No Face, but Plants Like Life Too
By CAROL KAESUK YOON
Vegetable behavior, and other ruminations on what we kill so we can eat.
Supremacy of a Social Network
By NICHOLAS WADE
The ability to cooperate, to make individuals subordinate their strong sense of self-interest to the needs of the group, lies at the root of human achievement.
Emotional Power Broker of the Modern Family
By BENEDICT CAREY
Pets alter not only a family’s routines but also its hierarchy, social rhythm and web of relationships.
For Whom the Cell Mutates: The Origins of Genetic Quirks
By SEAN B. CARROLL
While the origins of the cats at Hemingway’s longtime home in Key West, Fla., remain murky, the cause of their polydactyly is no longer a mystery.
Earthquake in Japan
Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation Levels Rise
By HIROKO TABUCHI, DAVID E. SANGER and KEITH BRADSHER
Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident after an explosion further damaged one of the crippled reactors and a fire at another spewed large amounts of radioactive material into the air.
Live Video via NHK World
A Look at the Mechanics of a Partial Meltdown
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Fuel rods must be completely covered in cooling water if they are not to overheat, but overheating does not immediately lead to actual melting.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: How Shifting Plates Caused the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
Diagram and maps showing what caused the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Map of the Damage From the Japanese Earthquake
An interactive map and photographs of places in Japan that were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: How a Reactor Shuts Down and What Happens in a Meltdown
What happens to a reactor in a meltdown.
Quake Moves Japan Closer to U.S. and Alters Earth’s Spin
By KENNETH CHANG
The unbuckling of two tectonic plates shifted Japan’s coastline by up to 13 feet, and a 250-mile-long section dropped in altitude by about two feet.
More Science News
Physicist’s Jailing Is Veiled in Mystery
By DENNIS OVERBYE
More than 500 days after Adlène Hicheur, a French-Algerian scientist, was detained by French authorities, no charges have been brought.
SMARTER THAN YOU THINK
Poker Bots Invade Online Gambling
By GABRIEL DANCE
Card-playing software is now good enough to win tens of thousands of dollars on major poker sites, and human players aren’t happy about it.
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