Pasqueflower’s risky business

Given our whiplash spring weather along the eastern edge of the Rockies, native plants and flowers have had to develop tricks for surviving whatever the clouds dish out. Take the beautiful  pasqueflower (Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida). It’s one of the … Read More…

Whiplash springs

Here in Boulder, Colorado, we enjoy what might be called whiplash springs–warm, cold, warm, cold. Snow to sixty degrees in less time than it takes to write this post, and back to snow in even less. OK, I exaggerate, but … Read More…

Rats giggle too

Ten years ago when neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp published his research showing that rats laugh when you tickle them, he might have gotten laughed off the stage. Most people still thought that “sophisticated” emotions like laughter required the kind of consciousness … Read More…