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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 Mexican Free Tailed Bat holding on to the bark of a tree
Plants & Animals

Singing’s Not Just for the Birds Anymore

The common perception of bat calls consists of squeaks and chirps. But many bats, including Mexican free-tailed bats of Austin, TX, sing to one another.
Color coded map expressing ozone concentration over different parts of the globe. Ozone concentration trends upwards from lower hemisphere to upper.
Science & Technology

Signs of Recovery in Earth’s Ozone Layer, but Danger Remains

For the first time in 35 years, atmospheric ozone actually increased, according to NASA measurements.
Microscope view of anthrax
Health

Anthrax: The Bacteria that Lays Diabolical Traps

Anthrax sets self-perpetuating booby traps in order to spread itself, researchers have found.
Close-up of a dolphin's face rising out of the water
Plants & Animals

How Smart are Dolphins, Really?

Dolphins may not be as smart as previously believed.
Illustration a satellite orbiting Saturn
Science & Technology

The Cassini Saturn Mission and the Allure of the Unknown

What the Cassini Saturn Mission teaches us about scientific discovery
Clams in shallow water
Science & Technology

For the Next Generation in Solar Power, Talk to the Clam

The next generation of solar power might be waiting beneath the Pacific waves, in the form of an armchair-sized clam.
Four turtles in a plastic big with a net over them
Plants & Animals

Man with Turtles in his Pants is the Tip of the Iceberg

Xu Gai was caught trying to enter Canada with 51 turtles crammed into his pants.
A brine shrimp looking towards the camera
Plants & Animals

Sea Monkeys Make the Ocean Go ‘Round

Turns out ocean currents might be created by…sea monkeys? Seriously.
A leopard crouched where a vehicle left tracks
Plants & Animals

Indian Leopards Living High on the Dog

Unbeknownst to unsuspecting residents, a large number of leopards are prowling the fields and backyards of populated agricultural lands in India. 
Fossilized bone of Psittacosaurus liujiatunensis
Plants & Animals

Recession Lessons from an Ancient Fossil Bed

In a 120-million-year-old rock in Northeast China, paleontologists made a remarkable find.
Illustration from 1411 depicting Moses standing between two individuals laying down and covered with boils
Health

Infection Control 600 Years Before the CDC

Modern health authorities combating the Ebola virus in West Africa might look to medieval infection control for inspiration.
Microscope view of three tapeworm eggs
Plants & Animals

Happy 100th Birthday to the Journal of Parasitology!

This year, the Journal of Parasitology celebrates its 100th anniversary
Man sitting cross-legged in a forest listening to headphones while holding a smart phone in one hand and balancing a cup of coffee in the other
Education & Society

Why We Really, Really Hate Being Alone

Why do we hate to be alone? It may have to do with saber toothed tigers.
Various Dendrogamma, a new species, shown to scale and from several perspectives to show the tops, sides, and length of the organisms
Plants & Animals

New Organism Might Represent One of Life’s Earliest Forms

Dendrogramma enigmatica, an organism discovered in the 1980s, may be one of the earliest lifeforms.
Various fruit with a sectioned orange in the foreground
Health

Train Your Brain to Prefer Healthy Food?

Researchers in Boston found that it may be possible to train the brain to unconsciously prefer healthier, more nutritious foods. 
A Blue Whale swimming with its calf.
Plants & Animals

Good News for California Blue Whales

Researchers writing in Marine Mammal Science report that California blue whale populations have rebounded from losses inflicted by whaling.
A tagged dairy cow stands in the middle of a flowering field.
Health

Is Beef Really Worse for the Environment Than Driving?

What’s the single biggest action a person can take to reduce their personal impact on climate change? It would seem that the answer is to eat less beef.
School of salmon swimming to the left
Plants & Animals

Salmon and Agriculture Compete in the California Drought

California’s prolonged drought is leading to bitter competition for water supplies between fish and agriculture.
Pyramids of Giza
Science & Technology

Scientists Have an Answer to How the Egyptian Pyramids Were Built

Using sand, water, and a scale model of an ancient Egyptian transport sled, a team of international scientists ...
Plastic and trash litter a shoreline.
Natural Science

“Plastic Rock” Marks the Presence of Humans in the Fossil Record

Plastic in the ocean has created an entirely new kind of rock: plastiglomerate.
Flowering Nicotiana Alata, a species of tobacco identified by star-shaped white blooms.
Plants & Animals

A Tobacco Plant that Could Cure Cancer?

Finding anti-cancer agents inside tobacco may seem like a pretty strange coincidence, but it’s not unheard of to find help in harmful places.
Reconstructed sperm from sixteen-million-year-old fossilized specimen found in Australia.
Plants & Animals

Sixteen-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Sperm Discovered in Australia

Digging in Queensland, Australia, scientists recently discovered the fossilized remains of a small crustacean known as a seed ...

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