For mammals in the northern regions of the world, global warming must seem a little more real than it does to humans below the Arctic Circle. In 2004, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment released a report called Impacts of a Warming Climate that revealed dire and immediate consequences of climate change for species ranging from polar bears to seals [1]. Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at twice the rate of the rest of the world, according to the report. Sea ice is rapidly melting and breaking up at a rate of about 3% per decade[2], winters are shortening, and…
The Science Creative Quarterly
By bethanylindsay
Bethany Lindsay is a Master of Journalism candidate at UBC's School of Journalism. In a previous life, she was an intrepid biologist, but has abandoned tracking down lizards for tracking down leads.
THE COMPASSES OF BIRDS
Twice a year, arctic terns make an epic journey. They travel the length of the Earth, from breeding grounds in the high Arctic to their southern habitat in Antarctica and back—a one-way distance of almost 20,000 kilometres[1]. This migratory pattern allows terns to follow their food, and escape extreme winters at both ends of the globe. They also avoid the central latitudes, where the predators are. They have every reason to make the trip, but how do they manage the navigation? One popular suggestion is that the Earth’s natural magnetic poles help to guide birds in their migrations[2]. How they…
MYSTERY ORGANISM BAFFLES GIRL ADVENTURER.
I’m a girl that likes to know what she’s looking at. I have a degree in biology, and I’ve spent the past few summers exploring Eastern North America, learning about the wildlife there. Those trips left me with an urge to identify every interesting plant, animal, or mineral I see, so that I can play the role of Madame Know-it-all the next time I see it. When I’m on a hike, I want easy access to a field guide, or better yet, an expert naturalist—that way I don’t have to remember how to use those complicated identification keys in field…
SWEATY SEX
Cameron Muir thinks a lot about hot, sweaty sex. It’s his job, after all. Muir is a psychologist at Brock University, and his current fascination is human sweat — particularly when it’s coitus-induced. His interest in sweat was aroused by steroid hormones, the tiny molecules like testosterone and estrogen that control so much of human sexuality from the inside of our bodies. Testosterone, in particular, can profoundly change a person’s appetite for sex. Women who have had their ovaries removed often complain they’ve lost their libidos, probably because of changes in hormone concentrations. “They’ll go to the doctor and say…
GRIZZLY BEARS TAKE NORTHERN VACATION
(photographs by Mark Furze) A paw print, a hair, and a photograph are all clues that Canada’s grizzly bears are on the move. Recently, Canadian scientists genetically confirmed the sighting of a grizzly bear more than 1000 kilometers north of the species’ known range, proving that Canadians still have a lot to learn about our northern-most animals. Grizzlies seem to be encroaching on the territory of polar bears, a species already threatened by global warming. The two species previously met only on the sea ice near mainland Canada, where they both hunt seals. Though polar bears are generally larger, grizzlies…