Nature’s Depths

Walking through nature with John Palka, a neuroscientist who loves plants and ponders big questions

Exploration

The Wondrous World of Dragons and Damsels

Exploration

To me, the world of dragonflies (dragons) and damselflies (damsels) is captivating. I find them to be not only beautiful but also remarkable in many ways. Four years ago, in July of 2020, I offered a posting called “The Dragons and Damsels of Elm Creek,” the 5,000-acre nature preserve that is the home of the Eastman Nature Center which I visit several times each week. Today, I want to build on this earlier story.

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Sandhill Cranes Flying

Magnetic Migration

Exploration

Our migratory kin travel south in the fall and back north in the spring. They do this over distances of hundreds or thousands, even tens of thousands of miles. How is this possible? Let us side-step the question of how different species manage to obtain enough energy to fly, walk, or swim for such distances and ask the other big question: How do they know in what direction they should be traveling?

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Young goslings snuggle with parent Canada geese

Life’s Renewal Manifests

Exploration

We know from experience about the way we humans court, and make babies, and care for our children. It’s a huge part of our lives. But how about some of the other creatures that make up the living world? How do they bring the next generation into existence?

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