on:
NCPR is supported by:
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
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...
Food writer Michael Pollan once advised "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Now, he tells us how to cook it. In his new book <em>Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation</em>, he takes a tour of the most time-tested...
Charles Darwin is known as the father of evolution. But another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, played a major role in developing the theory of natural selection before fading into obscurity. A trip to what's now Sulawesi in Indonesia,...
Once upon a time, giants roamed the planet — many of them in what is now Utah. A panel of paleontology experts describes some of the state's ancient treasures, from massive long-necked sauropods to the Utahraptor, a predator that would put...
Natural Selections with hosts Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager airs Thursday mornings during The Eight O'Clock Hour.
Suggest a topic for Natural Selections
Get a Natural Selections widget for your web page
Subscribe to the Natural Selections podcast
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
Leaf cutter ant. Photo: Jim Webber, CC some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Leaf Cutter Ants
Paul Smiths, NY, Apr 11, 2013 — Why do Leaf Cutter Ants cut leaves? Nesting material, food? As Martha Foley and Curt Stager explain, these ants are composting. What they actually eat grows on the rotting leaves. Go to full article
"Whirligig" water beetles. Photo: Zen Sutherland, CC some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Whirligig Beetles
Paul Smiths, NY, Apr 04, 2013 — Watching whirligig water beetles, found in circling clumps on the surface of calm fresh water, is a favorite childhood activity of many, including one-time child Martha Foley. Dr. Curt Stager explains the method behind their madcap collective behavior. (Note: Dr. William Romey teaches at SUNY Potsdam.) Go to full article
Bunchberry flower. Photo: James Anderson, CC some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Exploding Flowers
Paul Smiths, NY, Mar 28, 2013 — Some flowers open quickly, and some are even spring-loaded--like the venus fly trap--but the floral deployment speed record belongs to the lowly dogwood relative, the bunchberry, which when triggered opens its tiny four-petal bloom in less than a millisecond. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss flower power. Go to full article
Dandelions. Photo: Ard Meerveld, CC some rights reserved
Natural Selections: Dandelions
Paul Smiths, NY, Mar 21, 2013 — Martha Foley mows her lawn just before the dandelions go to seed, hoping to keep their numbers down, but there's another whole crop right behind--why? Dr. Curt Stager dug into the story and found the answer in the sex life--or lack thereof--of dandelions. Go to full article
