Skip to content

Yolanda Liu

A cartoon drawing of a frozen zombie head encased in a cube of ice. The ice is melting and forms a puddle of water on the ground.

Awakening Ancient Viruses with Climate Change

We hear about zombies all the time in movies, books, and TV shows. They often start with a corpse coming back to life and passing a virus onto others, who then get infected and pass it onto more people— and suddenly you’ve got a zombie apocalypse on your hands. But what happens when the virus itself is a zombie, resurrected from its thousand-year underground slumber? While they might not be the bringers of the apocalypse, the release of ancient viruses that were previously frozen underground is a new and unprecedented consequence of climate change that has researchers wondering if they might cause issues for us in the future.

A digital painting of a zoomed up mutable rainfrog resting on a leaf. It is green with brown spots and has distinguished spikey texture on its skin. "Shapeshifters" is titled at the top.

Shapeshifters of the Animal Kingdom

Shapeshifting creatures are amazing, and they’re not just in our favourite books or movies— they’re all around us. Many animals have the ability to change size and shape, allowing them to do things from scaring off predators to unlocking new abilities. Some of them, like the pufferfish, are famous for their ability, but there are other lesser-known shapeshifters that are just as awesome. Here’s a look at some of the lesser-known members of this shapeshifting team—and the ways they perform this fantastic feat.

A cartoon drawing of a greater bird-of-paradise winking at the viewer. The bird is yellow and brown with patches of green and black. In its beak, the bird holds a rose by the stem. "How to Flirt (Successfully): A Pick-up Guide" is captioned at the top.

How To Flirt (Successfully): A Pick-Up Guide by Nature’s Birds-of-Paradise

What’s your go-to move when you’re trying to flirt with someone? Are you the type that likes to make them laugh? Maybe you prefer the calm and collected approach, or maybe you go the direct route — no matter which you prefer, these all have one thing in common: the desire to impress. You might think that this is something that is unique to humans; however, there is one species that shares our desire to impress and takes it to the extremes: birds-of-paradise.