Darren Incorvaia is a writer and comedian based in Chicago. His writing has also appeared in Scientific American, Discover Magazine, and Reductress. He has a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and behavior from Michigan State University. His favorite animal is all of them.
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All Stories by Darren Incorvaia
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Animals
These researchers are reimagining animal behavior through a feminist lens
Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer are working to overturn biased, outdated views in biology.
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Animals
When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues
In a first-of-its-kind comparative study, researchers show that primates were masturbating 40 million years ago and that the behavior may help males keep their sperm fresh.
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Humans
Race car drivers tend to blink at the same places in each lap
Blinking is thought to occur randomly, but a new study tracking blinks in racing drivers shows it can be predictable — and strategic.
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Animals
This sea cucumber shoots sticky tubes out of its butt. Its genes hint at how
A new genetics study is providing a wealth of information about silky, sticky tubes, called the Cuvierian organ, that sea cucumbers use to tangle foes.
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Climate
Baseball’s home run boom is due, in part, to climate change
Higher air temperatures led to an average of 58 more home runs each MLB season from 2010 to 2019, a study shows.
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Animals
A ‘fire wolf’ fish could expand what we know about one unusual deep-sea ecosystem
Unlike other known methane seeps, Jacó Scar is slightly warmer than the surrounding water and is a home for both cold-loving and heat-loving organisms.
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Health & Medicine
A new treatment could restore some mobility in people paralyzed by strokes
Electrodes placed along the spine helped two stroke patients in a small pilot study regain control of their hands and arms almost immediately.
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Animals
Here are 3 people-animal collaborations besides dolphins and Brazilians
Dolphins working with people to catch fish recently made a big splash. But humans and other animals have cooperated throughout history.
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Animals
Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin
Researchers knocked out prairie voles’ oxytocin detection system. They weren’t expecting what happened next.
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Animals
A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds
Rabbits aren’t thought of as seed dispersers, but the Amami rabbit of Japan has now been recorded munching on a plant’s seeds and pooping them out.
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Microbes
The ancestor to modern brewing yeast has been found hiding in Ireland
Previously found in Patagonia and elsewhere, the brewing yeast Saccharomyces eubayanus has been found in Europe for the first time.
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Animals
These devices use an electric field to scare sharks from fishing hooks
SharkGuard gadgets work by harnessing sharks’ ability to detect electric fields. That could save the animals’ lives, a study suggests.