In recent years, an accumulation of research has made very clear how important getting enough sleep is for human health. There’s a wider biological corollary to this — sleep seems to be pretty much universal in animals. …

The main ingredient in antifreeze is a compound called ethylene glycol (also found in various other products). This stuff is really bad to drink, both for humans and animals. My friend and colleague Joe Wirth is a cat owner and also a scientist. …

At the recent UN climate meetings, youth activists once again figured prominently. Over the last few years, public discussion of climate change has benefited enormously from their passion and sense of urgency. It’s understandable that young people feel so strongly — after all its their future that’s on the line…

In the first summer of the pandemic, I was only able to take my kids to the beach the week before school. While the older two rode boogie boards, my younger daughter dug holes near the waterline, afraid of the waves farther out. …

What sequence analysis and computation reveal about the deadly spread of the virus — The first wave of the coronavirus hit Brazil’s Amazonas state very hard. So many people got sick in the capital Manaus that researchers estimated 70% or more of the population had immunity by fall 2020. …

A few months before the pandemic my family stayed at a hotel on Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. The place was run by an expatriate European and had an extremely tolerant attitude toward small animals. Mostly I think this reflected a desire not to be bothered about things. There were…

The region around Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya is a desert landscape. To a Californian, the look of the hills and rocks and washes is familiar even if the vegetation is not. Bumping along in a land cruiser, we must have crossed a half-dozen dry river beds. …