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The group size paradox: is cooperation always rarer in big groups?
Imagine you’re walking along the street and as you pass each other, the only other person there drops something. You stop and help, taking a few seconds out of your day to help…
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Eating and greeting: investigating the effect of diet on colony-mate recognition in termites
When two unrelated termite colonies meet, the outcome is never certain. While some encounters end in aggression, others are much more peaceful. Colonies can even fuse, becoming one larger colony. But these peaceful…
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Termite tattoos: A new method for marking insects?
Permanent marking of animals is useful for many studies in ecology and animal behaviour. Some common examples include rings (or bands) on birds and the use of paints or dyes on insects. While…
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Nightjar Season II (2019)
We arrive at the house around 1pm after a three hour crawl from Oxford, having got caught in London-goes-to-Cornwall on the M3. Home for the next two weeks is a large detached house…
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Human evolution: does it pay to care?
York, UK 2018 For the last nine weeks I’ve been doing an internship at the York Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA) at the University of York (where I also study). I’ve been…
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Nightjar Season I (2018)
Dorset, UK 2018 It’s been a few weeks since I came home from Dorset where I spent two weeks tracking nightjars and I really miss it! I went down to help out on…
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Optimal Foraging in Jackdaws
I didn’t realise how true the stereotype of it always being rainy in Britain was until I came to Germany. We got lots of clouds and bits of snow in winter and of…
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Python Project: Simple Genetic Algorithm
I found out the other day that I got the summer internship I applied for! I am beyond excited because it brings together all the things that I’m interested in, but it made…