ari daniel

I used to study killer whales. Now I report science stories for NPR. In the fifth grade, I won an award for most contagious smile.

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

The potato. No matter how you slice it, it's the very manifestation of all that is ordinary.

And yet, the domesticated potato and its wild relatives have harbored a genetic mystery — where its lineage came from.

Now scientists think they have an answer.

https://t.co/9xOCJXqfQ7

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Brazil is investing in a pioneering effort to use specially engineered mosquitoes to shut down the transmission of certain diseases, including dengue. For @NPR, I met health workers driving around in white Chevys, releasing thousands of these insects.

https://t.co/lqsQZQsQu2

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

If you're in Boston on Saturday eve, come to the @storycollider show at the @MITMuseum.

Theme is: Fractures.

We've got five true, personal stories about the ruptures in our lives and how science sometimes triggers — and sometimes heals — those breaks.

https://t.co/mDOzWA2WHl

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Why can't we remember anything from when we were a baby? @tristansyates & Nick Turk-Browne @YalePsychology scanned infants' brains and found that they *do* make memories, suggesting that although these memories may exist, they remain inaccessible to us.

https://t.co/FlDJV7qT1K

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

@kamillaa_asouza

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

A year and a half ago, neuroscientist Kamilla Souza got the call she'd been waiting for: A baby humpback whale had died just offshore. She wanted its brain. Studying the brains of whales and dolphins can teach us about the inner workings of these animals.

https://t.co/3UiA38ItWx

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Dinosaurs tend to be viewed as giant, dominating beasts. But they almost certainly had a softer side. Researchers are making insights into these animals' sex lives.

Check out "There's More to That" from @SmithsonianMag and @prx featuring
Riley Black

https://t.co/XPzOvHNIwW

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Why are auroras suddenly everywhere all at once?

Find out in our new episode of There's More to That from @SmithsonianMag and @prx that just dropped today!

https://t.co/XPzOvHNaHo

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

A group of scientists studying the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain believe there’s a way to predict the motions of a large crowd, possibly pointing to ways to prevent human stampedes. My story, published in @nytimes

https://t.co/dNOBm4xfZh

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

I'm hosting a podcast!

It's called There's More to That from @SmithsonianMag and @prx. We'll meet the magazine's journalists and their sources to hear about the big issues and ideas of our time.

Find out how much more there is to… almost everything.

https://t.co/XPzOvHNIwW

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Ancient DNA reveals that during the Iron Age, women in prehistoric Celtic societies were at the center of their social networks — unlike previous eras of human history. My story for NPR:

https://t.co/vzStvyUwvU

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Heart cockle shells beam light into their interiors via a design that resembles fiber optic cables. It could inspire everything from helping coral survive to designing new camera lenses.

https://t.co/OLPCCGrSHJ

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

This Thanksgiving, you might want to express gratitude for your local army of dung beetles.

In addition to serving as "nature's cleanup crew," according to @ClarkUniversity biologist Erin McCullough, they're also a sign of the health of their ecosystem.

https://t.co/XPv4lRbw7P

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

My family and I had been living in Lebanon. I wrote this essay about my effort to tell stories about scientists there — to offer something other than the usual narratives of instability and tragedy. Lost in all that darkness are the kernels of light.

https://t.co/HX9l1ABNgF

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

In New Jersey, a backyard teems with turtles. Many have been rescued and are now being nursed back to health to hopefully be returned to the wild one day. This is the story behind one man's efforts to ensure these turtles have a shot at a better life.

https://t.co/jNOhL6Ot7I

[AAAS Kavli Awards @AAASKavli]

"Over the last year in Lebanon, the simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been ever present," writes 2016 Audio Gold Award-winner @mesoplodon. Reporting from Lebanon, Daniel has seen firsthand the impact this conflict has on local research: https://t.co/eoUBZOV9dD

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Parrots are unique among birds in how they produce the pigmentation that makes their plumage so vibrant. It turns out a single enzyme calibrates the reds and yellows of a parrot’s brilliance.

My story for @NPR —

https://t.co/qlazCOKKwH

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Two individuals of a kind of comb jelly can fuse and become one with a shared nervous system and digestive system — which has implications for animal regeneration and immune systems.

My story for @NPR —

https://t.co/XARIavf6CA

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

It was an honor to meet Gliselle Marin, a Belizean bat researcher. She's looking to these fuzzy, flying mammals to act as emissaries to galvanize the people of Belize to protect their forests. @NPR

https://t.co/0M2K2IEsXt

[ari daniel @mesoplodon]

Something special happens in Belize in a spot that was once a Mayan metropolis. Dozens of researchers gather to study the stunning diversity of bats... because bats can teach us about our changing planet and ourselves. I went to Belize to see more. @NPR
https://t.co/jjxDSkMbLa