Darren Incorvaia

Darren Incorvaia is a writer and comedian based in Chicago. His writing has also appeared in Scientific American, Discover Magazine, and Reductress. He has a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and behavior from Michigan State University. His favorite animal is all of them.

All Stories by Darren Incorvaia

  1. Animals

    A decades-old mystery has been solved with the help of newfound bee species

    Masked bees in Australia and French Polynesia have long-lost relatives in Fiji, suggesting that the bees’ ancestors island hopped.

  2. Plants

    On hot summer days, this thistle is somehow cool to the touch

    In hot Spanish summers, the thistle Carlina corymbosa is somehow able to cool itself substantially below air temperature.

  3. Plants

    This weird fern is the first known plant that turns its dead leaves into new roots

    Cyathea rojasiana tree ferns seem to thrive in Panama’s Quebrada Chorro forest by turning dead leaves into roots that seek out nutrient-rich soil.

  4. Life

    Some honeybees in Italy regularly steal pollen off the backs of bumblebees

    New observations suggest that honeybees stealing pollen from bumblebees may be a crime of opportunity, though documentation of it remains rare.

  5. Plants

    This first-of-its-kind palm plant flowers and fruits entirely underground

    Though rare, plants across 33 families are known for subterranean flowering or fruiting. This is the first example in a palm.

  6. Physics

    Here’s how much fruit you can take from a display before it collapses

    About 10 percent of the fruit in a tilted market display can be removed before it all crashes down, computer simulations show.

  7. Animals

    These are our favorite animal stories of 2023

    Spiders that make prey walk the plank, self-aware fish and a pouty T. rex are among the critters that enchanted the Science News staff.

  8. Neuroscience

    Electrical brain implants may help patients with severe brain injuries

    After deep brain stimulation, five patients with severe brain injuries improved their scores on a test of cognitive function.

  9. Animals

    One mountain in Brazil is home to a surprising number of these parasitic wasps

    Darwin wasps were thought to prefer temperate areas. But researchers scoured a mountain in the Brazilian tropics and found nearly a hundred species.

  10. Animals

    These bats are the only mammals known to mate more like birds

    Male serotine bats have penises too large for penetration. To mate, the animals rub their genitals against each other, somewhat like birds’ cloacal kiss.

  11. Plants

    On some Australian islands, sea level rise may be helping mangroves thrive

    Rising seas usually spell trouble for mangroves. But the first survey of the Howick Islands in 50 years finds that mangroves there have expanded a lot.

  12. Animals

    Fake fog, ‘re-skinning’ and ‘sea-weeding’ could help coral reefs survive

    Coral reefs are in global peril, but scientists around the world are working hard to find ways to help them survive the Anthropocene.