In my first article for Science Journal for Kids, I take on a paper about the brains of solitary bees. Scientists wondered if the brains of solitary bees grow larger as they age, like the brains of honeybees, so they measured the brains of solitary bees at different ages to see if experience affects the size of certain brain structures.

Check out the whole article here: What happens to mother bees’ brains as they age?

Researchers at Nationwide Children’s recently published the largest U.S. study to date of pediatric patients with following COVID-19 infection. The authors note the persistence of symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue and highlight at least three clinical phenotypes to help guide further diagnosis and treatment of these patients.

Read the whole story here: Long-Term Symptoms Following COVID-19 Infection in Children.

My blog post on dogs that are exceptionally gifted at learning words has been adapted for the September issue of Psychology Today! It appears as part of a special collection about animal communication.

Check it out here: In Search of the Genius Dog.

Researchers coin the term “social medication” to describe social anointing in capuchin monkeys. The behavior, in which the animals vigorously rub smelly substances into their own fur and onto the bodies of others, appears to have both medicinal and social functions.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Why Do Monkeys Rub Themselves, and Others, with Onions?

Birds do it. Bees do it. Even city rats do it. I’m talking about pollination, of course. A new study shows that city rats eat the feijoa plant’s flowers and may end up pollinating the plants along the way.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Rats are Pollinators, Too.