Lyme disease might be more common, but this tick-borne disease is on the rise in Canada

Lyme disease might be more common, but this tick-borne disease is on the rise in Canada

Tick experts are warning Canadians to be on the lookout for symptoms of a tick-borne disease whose case counts have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years. Anaplasmosis is an infection contracted by humans and animals caused by the Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria and spread by ticks.  In the early 2000s, provinces and territories began reporting a handful … Read more

Giant hornets are here — but they’re not the ones you might think

Giant hornets are here — but they’re not the ones you might think

Christine Moses was playing Scrabble with her husband in their Ottawa home this spring when she looked outside the window and shrieked. “I just saw this gigantic beast crawling up the window,” Moses said. After taking a picture of the giant insect, Moses asked her husband to eliminate the intruder with a fly swatter. She then posted … Read more

“Matrescence,” and the Transformations of Motherhood

“Matrescence,” and the Transformations of Motherhood

Several months after the writer Lucy Jones gave birth to her third child, she purchased a compound microscope, swabbed her underarm, and set out to grow her own bacteria. This might seem like a weird thing to do, but motherhood makes you weird. Since having children, Jones had observed a series of changes in herself: … Read more

What are whales saying to each other? Scientists are a step closer to finding out

What are whales saying to each other? Scientists are a step closer to finding out

The Current16:06Decoding the sperm whale’s alphabet Scientists have examined thousands of hours of sperm whale calls — bursts of clicks known as codas — and discovered a kind of phonetic alphabet that the animals use to communicate. “What we’ve done here is really sort of expand … the library of potential codas that these animals … Read more

Lots of new animals are heading for your city, study suggests

Lots of new animals are heading for your city, study suggests

When you look out the window or walk your dog in the year 2100, the animals you spot might be quite different from what you see today, a new study suggests. Many wildlife species are moving due to climate change — which means Canadian cities could get an influx of wild climate refugees. They could … Read more

How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction

How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction

Quirks and Quarks17:24How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction When species cease to exist, we often say they went “the way of the dodo.” But it might be more fitting to say they went “the way of the great auk” because it was the Icelandic bird’s disappearance that led to the discovery that … Read more

UP Board 12th math, biology question papers shared on Whatsapp group during exam

UP Board 12th math, biology question papers shared on Whatsapp group during exam

The mathematics and biology question papers of the Uttar Pradesh class 12 board exam were allegedly shared on a WhatsApp group here an hour after the examinations began on Thursday, prompting authorities to lodged a police complaint. UP Board 12th math, biology question papers shared on Whatsapp group during exam On the complaint of District … Read more

Time in space is bad for the bones. N.S. prof’s research could help humans on Earth

Time in space is bad for the bones. N.S. prof’s research could help humans on Earth

For two decades, Tamara Franz-Odendaal has been studying how space travel affects the human skeleton. Because of the absence of gravity in space, astronauts experience bone loss when they get back to Earth. “We always think of it as just the scaffold that kind of keeps the body together, but it’s a really dynamic tissue,” … Read more

New NASA climate satellite will keep eye on plankton, clouds. Here’s why

New NASA climate satellite will keep eye on plankton, clouds. Here’s why

NASA’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit Thursday to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. SpaceX launched the Pace satellite on its $948-million US mission before dawn from Cape Canaveral, Fla., with the Falcon rocket heading south over the Atlantic Ocean to achieve a rare polar orbit. The satellite will spend at … Read more