Walking through nature with John Palka, a neuroscientist who loves plants and ponders big questions
By John Palka — Posted July 14, 2024
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.
By John Palka — Posted February 18, 2024
With this post, I hope finally to resume more frequent and more regular posts on Nature’s Depths!
By John Palka — Posted November 13, 2022
In this post, I would like both to offer some important personal news and to introduce an enriched perspective on living beings.
By John Palka — Posted December 27, 2021
Those of you who have been with Nature’s Depths for some time will remember that two years ago my life changed forever.
By John Palka — Posted October 24, 2021
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?
By John Palka — Posted July 25, 2021
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?