Chimpanzees are really into crystals

Graduate Program in Science Writing alum Cara Giaimo, writing for The New York Times, describes efforts by scientists to understand humans’ fascination with crystals by giving some to chimpanzees. “If you give a chimp a crystal, she might not give it back,” the piece says. “Researchers ended up needing to trade large amounts of bananas and yogurt to get back the largest crystal.”