Honey bee (Apis mellifera). © John Foxx/Getty Images
The following script was supposed to air on a science radio program, but the editor inexplicably killed it. I have never had this happen — after a pitch being formally accepted — so I asked for a reason why. (Still waiting for that reason.) Here’s the script:
Honey bees get high… on crack? … yes, from tiny doses.
Cocaine evolved in coca plants as a defense against leaf-munching insects. It works by destroying their motor pathways. But when mammals — think humans — ingest small doses, it activates the “reward” mechanism in their brains. (more…)
