Earther

Inside the Quest to Discover Super-Corals at the Bottom of the Sea

In the inky depths of the Gulf of Mexico, pearly white corals crisscross the seafloor, their translucent tentacles swaying to the current like flower petals on a midnight breeze. Lophelia pertusa brings life to what is often considered a cold, dead wasteland—and now, scientists are now bringing it back to the surface in the hopes … Continued

Earther

The Amazon Rainforest Is Adapting to Climate Change, But Not Fast Enough

A 30-year analysis of Amazonian trees finds the world’s largest rainforest is already adapting to climate change, but probably not fast enough. The study, published this week in Global Change Biology, paints what is perhaps our most comprehensive picture of how the Amazon rainforest’s trees are responding to climate change. While the authors found signs … Continued

Earther

How an Earthquake in Japan Triggered an Algae Invasion in the Pacific Northwest

In 2011, a colossal tsunami set off by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake slammed into the eastern shores of Japan. Not long afterwards, some of the 1.5 million tons of floating debris created by the waves, from buoys and boats to entire fishing docks, began washing up along America’s northwest Pacific coast. As revealed by a … Continued

EartherConservation

Human Medicine Use Loading Up River Creatures With Dozens of Different Drugs

Medicines do an excellent job of increasing the quality of life for humans around the world, but the drugs don’t stay with us forever, and are eventually flushed out into our wastewater. Now, new research suggests that not only are a staggering range of pharmaceutical products getting into the environment and accumulating in animals, they’re … Continued

ScienceBiology

New Story, Same Big Old Bird

Madagascar’s history contains some truly enormous animals, from giant lemurs to giant tortoises. The island was also home to 10-foot-tall flightless birds, which sadly disappeared hundreds of years ago. But how we humans classified those birds was, well, a mess. There seemed to be 15 species of elephant birds before this most recent study, but … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Diseased Ocean Microbes Could Be Messing With the Weather

Our oceans are brimming with microscopic phytoplankton—plant-like organisms that contribute significantly to marine diversity. Tiny though they are, these sea critters, when infected with a particular virus, may influence atmospheric processes such as cloud formation, according to new research. A ubiquitous, bloom-forming phytoplankton known as Emiliania huxleyi is plagued by a virus known as EhV. … Continued

ScienceBiology

Here’s How an Absurd Primate Ended Up With Squirrel Teeth

The aye-aye is about as ridiculous looking as a primate can get: beady yellow eyes, bat-like ears, and hands like horrible spiders. But perhaps its most interesting feature is its teeth. Over millions of years, species on Earth have developed seemingly unique adaptations that help them survive in challenging environments. But sometimes, totally different species … Continued

ScienceBiology

These Australian Birds Learn About Danger by Listening to Their Friends

If you heard a bear roar for the first time but didn’t see the snarling beast, what would you think? Would you be scared? Maybe, but maybe not—the forest is full of strange noises. But what if, at the same time, one of your friends said, “Holy shit, I know all about that clawed monster … Continued

EartherClimate Change

A Warming Antarctica Could Be Primed For Invasive Species

In 2017, marine biologist Erasmo Macaya was shocked to discover bits of kelp on the remote Antarctic island of King George, hundreds of miles from its natural habitat. He knew he’d found something strange, but he wasn’t aware he’d just uncovered evidence of a journey spanning over 10,000 miles—one that could portend a mass migration … Continued

Tech News

Scientist Loses Distinguished Award After Acceptance Presentation Full of Racy Photos

The Herpetologists’ League rescinded its annual Distinguished Herpetologist award after winner Dick Vogt showed racy photos during his acceptance address. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports: According to several attendees, Vogt, a longtime researcher of Brazilian turtles, showed several pictures of “scantily clad female students” doing field research. The photographs were risqué enough that conference … Continued

EartherClimate Change

The Arctic’s Metabolism Is Speeding Up, and That’s Bad

The Arctic tundra keeps an enormous amount of carbon in check in its soils, but as the region warms, that carbon could start leaking back into the atmosphere in a big way. A new study adds fuel to this concern by showing that at the longest-monitored site in the Arctic, our planet’s metabolism is speeding … Continued

EartherConservation

Looks Like Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Noise Pollution, After All

Humans and their constant barrage of noise cause all sorts of problems for wildlife. But new research suggests noise pollution may do more than impact individual animals—it can potentially modify whole ecosystems by messing with how predators interact with their prey. How did scientists figure this out? By blasting plants and insects with AC/DC, of … Continued

ScienceBiology

Bogong Moths Are First Insect Known to Use Earth’s Magnetism to Navigate at Night

Every spring in Australia, millions of bogong moths emerge from their pupae and embark on a 600-mile trip to the Australian Alps, the highest mountain range in Australia. For weeks, the insects rest during the day and take to the skies at night to reach the Alps, where they cram into caves and rest for … Continued

EartherConservation

Madagascar’s Toxic Toad Invasion Is Worse Than We Realized

Madagascar has an invasive toad problem, and new research suggests that fears about its ecological consequences are well-deserved. Almost every predator native to the island is likely sensitive to the toads’ dangerous toxins. Asian common toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) were only recently introduced to Madagascar. They first turned up at the eastern port city of Toamasina … Continued

ScienceBiology

Pilot Whale Dies in Thailand After Being Found With 17 Pounds of Plastic Bags in Its Stomach

A male pilot whale struggled for five days to stay alive in Thailand near the Malaysian border after rescuers found it with 17 pounds of plastic bags in its stomach, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, but it ultimately succumbed to its illnesses. The whale died on Friday, the Post wrote, and an autopsy discovered … Continued

EartherEarth Science

In a Single Generation, Alaska’s Landscapes Have Transformed

As we continue to burn fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow, an insidious transformation is taking place under our noses. Remote ecosystems in our planet’s far north are changing at a scale that’s hard to imagine. A new study published in Global Change Biology is making that imagination part a bit easier. It estimates that … Continued

Tech News

Stick Bugs Could Be Thriving by Getting Pooped Out of Birds

If you wanna thrive on this planet, you have to figure out a way to be fruitful and multiply. If you’re a stick bug, that could mean getting pooped out of a bird. Researchers from Japan fed stick bug eggs to birds and the eggs turned out just fine. It’s a simple experiment, but it … Continued

Tech News

Australia Finishes Building World’s Largest Cat-Proof Fence, Cats Accept the Challenge

Australia has completed the world’s longest cat-proof fence, because cats, an introduced species on the island continent, can be a huge freaking problem. Agence France-Presse reports: The Australian Wildlife Conservancy this month finished building and electrifying the 44-kilometre (27-mile) long fence to create a predator-free area of almost 9,400 hectares (23,200 acres) some 350 kilometres … Continued

EartherConservation

Incredible New NASA Images Show Puerto Rico’s Forests Still Scarred From Hurricane Maria

We’re 10 days out from the 2018 hurricane season, but if a new NASA-led aerial survey is any indicator, Puerto Rico’s forests and wetlands still have a long way to go before they’ve recovered from the last one. In April, a NASA science plane flew across a vast swath of Puerto Rico’s ecosystems, from tropical rainforests … Continued

EartherConservation

Lawns Are an Ecological Disaster

Neil Tyson often conjectures that maybe aliens have concluded humans aren’t intelligent enough to contact. He’s probably referring to our capacity for war, but lawns may display our talent for fruitless carnage even better. Americans devote 70 hours, annually, to pushing petrol-powered spinning death blades over aggressively pointless green carpets to meet an embarrassingly destructive … Continued