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Black and white headshot of author James MacDonald

James MacDonald

James MacDonald received a BS in Environmental Biology from Columbia and a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University, spending 4 years in Central America collecting data on fish in mangrove forests. His research has been published in scholarly journals such as Estuaries and Coasts and Biological Invasions. Until his death in the fall of 2019, James worked in fisheries management and outreach in New York.

A scale pauses at 190 pounds
Health

Where Does Lost Weight Go? Into Thin Air.

If your resolution is to lose weight this year, have you thought about where exactly that lost fat goes?
A comet moving through a starry sky
Natural Science

Where is Water From? Probably Not Comets

A recently completed analysis of comet 67P/C-G by the Rosetta Space Craft has effectively ruled out comets as the primary source of Earth’s water.
Four lane highway in Nebraska
Science & Technology

An Algae Farm for Cleaner Highways

A design firm has come up with an answer to highway pollution, running tubes of photosynthetic algae to absorb CO2 pollution from traffic.
A forest full of thin trees
Plants & Animals

Overhunting Can Kill Forests, Too

Researchers in Thailand have discovered that overhunting in tropical forests doesn’t just kill animals, it kills also trees.
Light floods in between large Egyptian columns
Politics & History

That Old Scroll is Actually an Egyptian Book of Spells!

A mysterious document turned out to be a book of Egyptian book of spells, according to a newly-completed translation
A snake opens its mouth wide and bares its fangs
Plants & Animals

Help is on the Way for Snakebite Victims

Researchers have developed a way to identify the species of snake through a DNA swab of the bite, without killing it.
Bones of a mammoth on display
Plants & Animals

If You Cloned a Mammoth…

Can a mammoth be cloned?
Baby Sea Turtles make their way to the ocean
Plants & Animals

Baby Sea Turtles and the “Lost Year”

Scientists have a way to follow baby sea turtles during their frantic first hours of life.
A Deep Sea Anglerfish with mouth opened wide to display sharp teeth
Plants & Animals

Lights! Camera! Anglerfish!

For the first time, scientists have footage of the black sea devil anglerfish Melanocetus sp. in its natural environment.
Jugs of milk
Health

Do Adults Need to Drink Milk?

Do we really need to drink so much milk?
Black and white sketch of a fanged deer looking back to a mountain in the distance
Plants & Animals

The Improbable Fanged Deer of Afghanistan

Last seen more than a half century ago, a rare fanged deer has been rediscovered in Afghanistan
Black and white drawing of a Giant Moa, an extinct flightless bird
Science & Technology

How Many People Does it Take to Wreck an Ecosystem?

A relatively small number of people are required to destroy and ecosystem
Three Giant Galapagos Turtles on a stroll together
Plants & Animals

Back from Extinction, But Not Safe: Captive Breeding Restores a Giant Galapagos Tortoise

The Española giant tortoise, once feared extinct, has a viable population again.
A lizard with dewlap extended sitting on a rock
Plants & Animals

When Faced with Competition, Florida Lizards Simply Evolve Faster

When faced with an invasive competitor, Florida anole lizards took only 15 years to evolve a response.
Side-by-side images of two men whose headpieces are hooked up to machinery
Education & Society

Tele(phone)kinesis

In a scene straight out of science fiction, a student in Washington lifted another student’s hand—with a thought.
Gladiators facing off depicted with Roman tile
Education & Society

Kicking Back, Gladiator Style

Gladiators drank a concoction of vinegar and ashes to stay bulky for battle.
A New York Frog in profile atop a brown leaf
Plants & Animals

A New Species of Frog Sings in New York City

A new species of frog has been identified in the wilds of New York City
A satellite near a large space rock in the middle of space
Natural Science

How to Catch a Comet

Last week, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully landed an unmanned probe (Philae) on a comet, a feat heretofore unmatched in human history
Tweezers holding a leaf and placing it in a test tube
Science & Technology

EPA Announces 2014 Presidential Green Chemistry Award Winners

The 2014 Presidential Green Chemistry Award winners discover new strategies for pollution prevention.
Human bones in sand partially uncovered
Education & Society

Humans and Neanderthals: History Revealed in an Ancient Femur

Recent findings narrow the period in which both Neanderthals and modern humans existed together.
A tower of giraffes
Plants & Animals

The Secret Lives of Giraffes

Despite being such conspicuous animals, researchers still know surprisingly little about giraffes.
A lone creature among the sea plants underwater
Science & Technology

Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About Ocean Acidification?

Will ocean acidification disrupt the planet's ecosystem before climate change does?
Male and Female symbols on restroom doors
Science & Technology

Climate and Gender: Too Few Males?

Could climate change lead to fewer males?
Microscopic view of stem cells
Health

Embryonic Stem Cells Finally Start to Deliver

The early promise of stem cells might finally be overcoming controversy and paying off.
Winged-arm and raptor legs are imagined on the hypothetical illustration of a Deinocheirus
Plants & Animals

Deinocheirus: At Long Last, Arms with a Body to Match

The mysterious Deinocheirus dinosaur now has a body.

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