Mary Bates
@marybates.bsky.social
Freelance science writer for adults and kids, specializing in the life and social sciences. Studied bat echolocation for my PhD in psychology. Cat lover, embroiderer, nerd. She/her.
🌐 marybatessciencewriter.com
🌐 marybatessciencewriter.com
What are rats to bats? Video from recent research shows rats can be predators, competitors - and sometimes prey!
Rats wage war on bats in stunning new footage
New videos reveal the surprising dynamics of bat-rat relationships—and suggest how human activity is fueling these interspecies conflicts.
www.nationalgeographic.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
What are rats to bats? Video from recent research shows rats can be predators, competitors - and sometimes prey!
What happens when bats meet rats? New research suggests it's complicated. For my latest Nat Geo article, I wrote about the the surprising dynamics of bat-rat relationships — and how human activity is fueling these interspecies conflicts.
Rats wage war on bats in stunning new footage
New videos reveal the surprising dynamics of bat-rat relationships—and suggest how human activity is fueling these interspecies conflicts.
www.nationalgeographic.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:18 PM
What happens when bats meet rats? New research suggests it's complicated. For my latest Nat Geo article, I wrote about the the surprising dynamics of bat-rat relationships — and how human activity is fueling these interspecies conflicts.
This time of year, spiders receive a lot of attention for their creepier qualities. But researchers value them year-round for pulling off impressive cognitive feats with very little brains.
Spiders Are Smart, Not Scary
Spiders aren't just spooky Halloween mascots. Their keen senses, complex behaviors, and diverse lifestyles make them excellent subjects for cognitive studies.
www.psychologytoday.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
This time of year, spiders receive a lot of attention for their creepier qualities. But researchers value them year-round for pulling off impressive cognitive feats with very little brains.
Cephalopods have plenty of tricks, and they may be strategic about using them, demonstrating sophisticated cognitive abilities like understanding others' perspectives.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...
Do Octopuses Mean to Deceive?
Cephalopods like octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid display a range of deceptive behaviors, which may rely on sophisticated cognitive abilities such as Theory of Mind.
www.psychologytoday.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Cephalopods have plenty of tricks, and they may be strategic about using them, demonstrating sophisticated cognitive abilities like understanding others' perspectives.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...
Human exceptionalism - the idea that we are somehow separate from nature and not inherently linked to (or even like) other beings - is a myth.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/huma...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/huma...
Whales Mourn, Birds Show Self-Awareness, Plants Remember—Are Humans Really So Special?
Other species exhibit capabilities that were once thought to be exclusive to Homo sapiens
www.scientificamerican.com
August 27, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Human exceptionalism - the idea that we are somehow separate from nature and not inherently linked to (or even like) other beings - is a myth.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/huma...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/huma...
Some captive apes have more experience participating in research than others. Could this prior experience affect how they think and behave, biasing results from cognitive studies?
Check out my latest blog post!
Check out my latest blog post!
Are Research-Savvy Chimpanzees Skewing Study Results?
Some captive apes have more experience participating in research than others. Could this prior experience affect how they think and behave, biasing results from cognitive studies?
www.psychologytoday.com
August 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Some captive apes have more experience participating in research than others. Could this prior experience affect how they think and behave, biasing results from cognitive studies?
Check out my latest blog post!
Check out my latest blog post!
Morris and Pepper wonder how you are celebrating International Cat Day.
August 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Morris and Pepper wonder how you are celebrating International Cat Day.
Are consumer neurofeedback devices more than just hype for brain health? My latest for IEEE Pulse:
Why Consumer Neurofeedback Devices Are More Than Hype for Brain Health - IEEE Pulse
Mind-reading headphones that prevent burnout and boost focus may sound like science fiction. But according to Ramses Alcaide, the co-founder and CEO of Neurable, that’s exactly what his company’s MW75...
www.embs.org
August 6, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Are consumer neurofeedback devices more than just hype for brain health? My latest for IEEE Pulse:
Please enjoy some of my embroidered brains and neurons for #worldbrainday.
July 22, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Please enjoy some of my embroidered brains and neurons for #worldbrainday.
What's your call on the golden snub-nosed monkey: cute or terrifying? Yes, they can stare into your soul, but they also love hugging.
The Creature Feature: 10 Fun Facts About the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey — Mary Bates, PhD
Get to know a most unusual primate: the golden snub-nosed monkey ( Rhinopithecus roxellana ). These colorful, social, and tough monkeys live in the mountains of central and southwestern China - and it...
marybatessciencewriter.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:57 PM
What's your call on the golden snub-nosed monkey: cute or terrifying? Yes, they can stare into your soul, but they also love hugging.
Reposted by Mary Bates
We are six months into the second Trump administration and the scale and severity of its assault on our nation's science and democracy has been unrelenting.
Today, @ucs.org releases a detailed assessment of the damage so far and where we go from here: www.ucs.org/resources/sc... #ProtectScience
Today, @ucs.org releases a detailed assessment of the damage so far and where we go from here: www.ucs.org/resources/sc... #ProtectScience
Science and Democracy Under Siege
Documenting Six Months of the Trump Administration’s Destructive Actions
www.ucs.org
July 21, 2025 at 12:38 PM
We are six months into the second Trump administration and the scale and severity of its assault on our nation's science and democracy has been unrelenting.
Today, @ucs.org releases a detailed assessment of the damage so far and where we go from here: www.ucs.org/resources/sc... #ProtectScience
Today, @ucs.org releases a detailed assessment of the damage so far and where we go from here: www.ucs.org/resources/sc... #ProtectScience
Does playfulness support a cooperative and tolerant society? A new study links play, tolerance, and empathy in elephants.
Play Encourages Cooperation and Tolerance in Elephants
Signals used by elephants to manage competitive play sessions provide hints to the roots of empathy in social mammals.
www.psychologytoday.com
July 19, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Does playfulness support a cooperative and tolerant society? A new study links play, tolerance, and empathy in elephants.
Mexico's "Batman," ecologist Rodrigo Medellín, shares his love and admiration for bats. They are incredibly ecologically important - and look at those adorable faces!
Protecting Mexico’s bats | CNN
Encountering vampire bats and snakes in dark caves may sound like the stuff of nightmares, but for Mexican ecologist Rodrigo Medellín it’s just another day at work. As part of the Rolex Perpetual Plan...
www.cnn.com
July 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Mexico's "Batman," ecologist Rodrigo Medellín, shares his love and admiration for bats. They are incredibly ecologically important - and look at those adorable faces!
Playful pachyderms promote peace! Rapid motor mimicry of play signals may help keep elephant play sessions from getting too rough.
Play Encourages Cooperation and Tolerance in Elephants
Signals used by elephants to manage competitive play sessions provide hints to the roots of empathy in social mammals.
www.psychologytoday.com
July 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Playful pachyderms promote peace! Rapid motor mimicry of play signals may help keep elephant play sessions from getting too rough.
I love this article by @brandonkeim.bsky.social asking if animals can appreciate beauty.
psyche.co/ideas/what-i...
psyche.co/ideas/what-i...
What if animals find beauty in the world, just like we do? | Psyche Ideas
Chimpanzees favour the colour red. Junglefowl prefer symmetry. Our shared capacity for aesthetic pleasure is cause for wonder
psyche.co
July 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I love this article by @brandonkeim.bsky.social asking if animals can appreciate beauty.
psyche.co/ideas/what-i...
psyche.co/ideas/what-i...
Thinking about my guinea pig companions over the years on this Guinea Pig Appreciation Day - including Tiger, Stella, Stanley, Lentil, and Garbanzo. They were all very good pigs.
July 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Thinking about my guinea pig companions over the years on this Guinea Pig Appreciation Day - including Tiger, Stella, Stanley, Lentil, and Garbanzo. They were all very good pigs.
Trail cameras in the Amazon captured an odd couple - an ocelot and an opossum - wandering around together. “Like two old friends walking home from a bar,” according to one scientist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/s...
Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship
www.nytimes.com
July 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Trail cameras in the Amazon captured an odd couple - an ocelot and an opossum - wandering around together. “Like two old friends walking home from a bar,” according to one scientist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/s...
Reposted by Mary Bates
It was a pleasure talking to Mary about our apparatus to take fish cognition research into the wild! 🐟🧠 Read it on Psychology Today ⬇️⬇️
with @kotrschal.bsky.social and @amydeacon.bsky.social
with @kotrschal.bsky.social and @amydeacon.bsky.social
Hey, I'm back to blogging about animal behavior at Psychology Today! Check out my article on studying fish cognition in the wild, featuring the work of @catarina-vp.bsky.social and colleagues.
Fish Are Smarter Than You Think
Researchers developed a way to run tests on fish learning and memory in the animals' natural environments. The results may reveal that fish are smarter than previously assumed.
www.psychologytoday.com
July 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
It was a pleasure talking to Mary about our apparatus to take fish cognition research into the wild! 🐟🧠 Read it on Psychology Today ⬇️⬇️
with @kotrschal.bsky.social and @amydeacon.bsky.social
with @kotrschal.bsky.social and @amydeacon.bsky.social
Fish are smarter than you think! They can distinguish and remember individuals, navigate with mental maps, cooperate and communicate with one another, build complex structures, use tools, and keep track of quantities.
Fish Are Smarter Than You Think
Researchers developed a way to run tests on fish learning and memory in the animals' natural environments. The results may reveal that fish are smarter than previously assumed.
www.psychologytoday.com
July 10, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Fish are smarter than you think! They can distinguish and remember individuals, navigate with mental maps, cooperate and communicate with one another, build complex structures, use tools, and keep track of quantities.
Hey, I'm back to blogging about animal behavior at Psychology Today! Check out my article on studying fish cognition in the wild, featuring the work of @catarina-vp.bsky.social and colleagues.
Fish Are Smarter Than You Think
Researchers developed a way to run tests on fish learning and memory in the animals' natural environments. The results may reveal that fish are smarter than previously assumed.
www.psychologytoday.com
July 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Hey, I'm back to blogging about animal behavior at Psychology Today! Check out my article on studying fish cognition in the wild, featuring the work of @catarina-vp.bsky.social and colleagues.
Vampire bats' habit of grooming one another can help spread a gel-based rabies vaccine applied to the fur! www.science.org/content/arti...
Vampire bats’ mutual grooming helps spread innovative rabies vaccine
A gel that bats lick off one another’s fur could help prevent rabies outbreaks in cattle, a growing problem in Latin America
www.science.org
July 8, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Vampire bats' habit of grooming one another can help spread a gel-based rabies vaccine applied to the fur! www.science.org/content/arti...
Researchers have documented 34 instances over two decades in which wild orcas have offered food to humans.
www.apa.org/news/press/r...
And the original paper: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
www.apa.org/news/press/r...
And the original paper: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
www.apa.org
July 2, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Researchers have documented 34 instances over two decades in which wild orcas have offered food to humans.
www.apa.org/news/press/r...
And the original paper: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
www.apa.org/news/press/r...
And the original paper: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
Reposted by Mary Bates
For Dolphins, Echolocation May Be More Like ‘Touching’ Than ‘Seeing’ www.scientificamerican.com/article/for-...
For Dolphins, Echolocation May Be More Like ‘Touching’ Than ‘Seeing’
Dolphins seem to “feel” their way across the sea with narrow, sweeping beams of sonar
www.scientificamerican.com
July 2, 2025 at 11:50 AM
For Dolphins, Echolocation May Be More Like ‘Touching’ Than ‘Seeing’ www.scientificamerican.com/article/for-...
Reposted by Mary Bates
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎
🧪🌎
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
June 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎
🧪🌎
What marine creature is adorably blobby, neutrally buoyant, and at home on the deep sea floor? It's the dumbo octopus!
marybatessciencewriter.com/home/the-cre...
marybatessciencewriter.com/home/the-cre...
The Creature Feature: 10 Fun Facts About the Dumbo Octopus — Mary Bates, PhD
It’s not often that an octopus is described as cute or whimsical. But dumbo octopuses have a certain squishy charm about them. With their large eyes and prominent, ear-like fins, they resemble the flo...
marybatessciencewriter.com
July 1, 2025 at 11:58 AM
What marine creature is adorably blobby, neutrally buoyant, and at home on the deep sea floor? It's the dumbo octopus!
marybatessciencewriter.com/home/the-cre...
marybatessciencewriter.com/home/the-cre...