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About
Natural Selections
On Natural Selections each week, join a short conversation on the natural world. Topics range from evolutionary biology to geology and wildlife, from climate science to animal and human behavior.
The program is hosted by NCPR news director Martha Foley joined by naturalist Dr. Curt Stager of Paul
Smith's College.
Support for Natural Selections is provided by the Glenn
and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation, dedicated
to improving the quality of life for year-round residents
of the Adirondack Park, and by Paul Smith's, the College of the Adirondacks.
New Book: Deep Future
"The course we take in the coming decades will affect not just the next hundred years, but the next hundred thousand years of life on this planet." --Curt Stager
In bookstores now
Order at: Amazon | Borders
Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Powell's Books
And please remember your local independent booksellers. Find one near you.
Nature features
Curt Stager on On Point
Listen to Dr. Curt Stager as the guest on On Point, 3/24/11, talking about his new book, Deep Future: the Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth.
Curt's Save the Carbon Blog
Spring, 2012: Just A Fluke, or A Taste of the Future?
Partial ice-out on Lower Saint Regis Lake , March 22, 2012.Record-high March temperatures have driven the ice... more
The weather of 2011: a waste or a wake-up call?
We've been having a difficult time with weather this year in the North Country. But let's not... more
The Power of Moving Water
Spread your arms out sideways and your hands will be roughly one meter apart. Use that span to sculpt an... more
Upper Jay, six days after Irene.
Six days after Irene drove the Ausable River and its tributaries over their banks, Kary and I visited the heavily... more
Irene devastates the Ausable Valley
Former hurricane ("tropical storm") Irene did relatively little damage last Sunday near my home in Paul Smiths, here in... more
Natural History
A keen eye and extensive knowledge of feathers allows forensic ornithologist Carla Dove (yes, that's her name) figure out from feather and bone fragments which type of bird crashed into a plane or was eaten by a snake. But the expertise has an...
Birds flock. Insects swarm. Fish swim in schools. These are all examples of collective behavior, a concept that has fascinated scientists for decades. For a recent piece in <em>Wired Magazine</em>, science writer Ed Yong explains what...
About 55 million years ago, a teacup-sized critter in China was helping to pave the way for apes and humans. This insect eater had fingernails and stereo vision, a newly published analysis of a fossil suggests. And it weighed just 1 ounce.
Sex is nice, but can animals make babies without it? One summer, two little boys, their tutor and the tutor's two friends did an experiment to explore this question. What they discovered, back in 1740, shocked the world.
A report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says insects offer a huge potential for improving the world's food security. Peter Menzel, co-author of <em>Man Eating Bugs</em>, describes some insect-based cuisine and the western...
Natural Selections with hosts Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager airs Thursday mornings during The Eight O'Clock Hour.
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Manufacturing adds a lot of carbon to the atmosphere. Photo: Eric Schmuttenmaer, Creative Coimmons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Carbon
Jun 20, 2013 — Last week we learned how nitrogen affects us. This week, Martha Foley talks with Dr. Curt Stager about how carbon cycles through the atmosphere and the bodies of all living things. Go to full article
The nitrogen cycle. Infographic: US EPA
Natural Selections: Nitrogen
Paul Smiths, NY, Jun 13, 2013 — Our atmosphere is about 80 percent nitrogen. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager explore the ways this common element and necessary component of all life forms interacts with the biosphere. Go to full article
Cliff swallows have happily adapted to manmade "cliffs." Photo: < href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermoidhome/3496409189/">Carol Foil, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Cliff swallow adaptation
Paul Smiths, NY, Jun 06, 2013 — Researchers have found that variations in the wingspan of cliff swallows has a measurable impact on their survival in a human-dominated environment. In this week's Natural Selections, Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss how cliff swallows living in a high traffic area have adapted to survive the conditions. Go to full article
Bumblebee on miniature petunia. Photo: spike55151, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Bumblebees and "flower power"
Paul Smiths, NY, May 30, 2013 — Static electricity plays a role in getting pollen to come loose from the blossom and to stick to the pollinator. According to a recent study using petunias and bumblebees, British researchers observed that the flowers increase their electrical charge in response to the presence of pollinating insects. The charge peaks in intensity just before the potential pollinator begins feeding on nectar, and decreases after they go away. Martha Foley and naturalist Curt Stager discuss this unique example of "flower power." Go to full article
One would expect coffee blossoms to give a little caffeine "buzz," but so do flowers in the citrus family. Honeybees on an orange blossom. Photo: Daniel Orth, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Flowers, bees... and caffeine
May 23, 2013 — Plants have many strategies for manipulating animals to do their bidding. Some flowers focus the attention of their pollinators with a familiar pick-me-up--caffeine. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss the natural world. Go to full article
This road in Iceland runs down the fault line where the Eurasian continental plate meet the North American continental plate. Photo: Marius Watz, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Continental Drift
Paul Smiths, NY, May 16, 2013 — The theory of continental drift--the idea that the continents are islands of rock adrift on the earth's molten core--first gained acceptance in the 1960s. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley talk about the consequences of their extreme slow motion collisions--earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Go to full article
Spiral orb webs in a gorge in Karijini National Park, Australia. Photo: Bjorn Christian Torrissen, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Spider Webs
Paul Smiths, NY, May 09, 2013 — Spiders from big to tiny use their webs to snag and trap prey in fascinating ways. One spider even reels in tiny gnats that come to "roost" on the web. The silky constructions are wonders of engineering and construction. They're also highly specialized, spider to spider, as Martha Foley hears from Dr. Curt Stager in this week's edition of Natural Selections. Go to full article
Porcupine up a tree. Archive Photo of the Day: Judy Andrus Toporcer
Natural Selections: Porcupines
Paul Smiths, NY, May 02, 2013 — Dr. Curt Stager tells co-host Martha Foley why and how porcupines climb trees--and why it can be a dangerous job. Plus, what to do when one lives under (and gnaws on) your porch. Get up close, but not too close, to porcupines. Go to full article
Left to right: Passenger Pigeons, juvenile, male and female. Artist: Louis Agassiz Fuertes, circa 1910.
Natural Selections: Passenger Pigeons
Paul Smiths, NY, Apr 25, 2013 — Once so numerous they darkened the sky for days while migrating, passenger pigeons arrived in this region in early May each year. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley remember this once ubiquitous species wiped out by human hunting in the nineteenth century. Go to full article
Ruby-throated Hummingbird engaging in a little pollination. Photo: Kelly Colgan Azar, CC some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Unusual pollinators
Paul Smiths, NY, Apr 18, 2013 — Everyone is familiar with how bees and insects distribute pollen from one flower to another, but that's not the only way to get the job done. Some night-blooming plants are pollinated by bats, when bright floral colors are invisible. And hummingbirds might just get their nectar without picking up any pollen. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss the unusual strategies some plants can use to attract and hold the interest of the unusual animals that pollinate them. Go to full article
