The Bats, the Bridge and Hurricane Harvey
Houstonians turned out by the thousands this week to help rescue neighbors who had been displaced or trapped by Hurricane Harvey’s record floods. Some of those neighbors had wings. Critters displaced...
View ArticleDigging Deep into De-Extinction
Right now, in labs around the world, researchers are doing what science-fiction writers used to dream about: trying to bring extinct species back to life. The science of resurrecting lost species takes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Critical Critters Call for Gonzovationists
Artist Ralph Steadman has become the ultimate recycler. Until recently, the dirty water the 81-year-old satirist used to clean his paint brushes each day would get dumped down the sink, never to be...
View ArticleSnails Are Going Extinct: Here’s Why That Matters
Ah, snails. They’re small. They’re slimy. They lack the charisma of a polar bear or a gorilla. And yet just like flora and fauna all over the world, they’re disappearing. In Hawaii, a critically...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Fungus Killing America’s Bats: “Sometimes You’ll See Piles of Dead Bats”
It’s Friday evening in Pittsburgh, and the mosquitoes are out in force. One bites at my arm and I try to slap it away. Another takes the opportunity to land on my neck. I manage to shoo this one off...
View ArticleLooking Beyond the Charismatic Megafauna
There’s a phrase that describes species like polar bears, wolves, gorillas and giant pandas: “charismatic megafauna.” There’s nothing wrong with being a large, good-looking species, but charisma can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How the Search for Mythical Monsters Can Help Conservation
After fears the Loch Ness Monster had “disappeared” last winter, a new sighting in May 2017 was celebrated by its enthusiasts. The search for monsters and mythical creatures (or “cryptids”) such as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Parasite Lost: Did Our Taste for Seafood Just Cause an Extinction?
A lot can change in five decades. In 1963 University of Aberdeen researcher Ken MacKenzie published a paper about a parasite called Stichocotyle nephropis living in the waters around Scotland. Last...
View ArticleCan Plastic Ever Be Made Illegal?
I thought I knew what garbage looked like. Then I arrived in Bangalore, the third-largest city in India. There was trash was almost everywhere you looked. Plastic bottles, food packaging and other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wasted Water: The Crappiest Places in America — Literally
It’s in the water. In our favorite beaches, swimming holes and — somehow — even in wild creeks and streams in the middle of nowhere. Poop, that is. America’s waters are infested with feces. We know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Revelator Reads: 6 New Environmental Books for the New Year
January is always such a great time of year. We start the month well-rested, the pressures of the holidays are over, and we get a chance to look at the New Year with fresh eyes and new perspective....
View ArticleClik here to view.
These Decaying Film Canisters Could Hold Secrets to Saving Species from...
It’s a cool and rainy June morning in upstate Jamestown, N.Y., when I first catch a glimpse of the rustic river-rock façade of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. In 1984 Roger Tory...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Extinction Ink
“I tattoo,” says artist J. Trip. “That’s what I do.” A second-generation tattooer, Trip brings something unique to his creations. From his chair at Funhouse Tattoo: International Guesthouse in San...
View ArticleNo Cell-phone Reception? That’s Good News for Jaguars
Jaguars are not impressed by your cell phones. In fact, phones and jaguars just don’t go well together at all. A new study finds that the big cats and dozens of other threatened mammal species do best...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“We Roam With Jaguars” — 5 Questions With Wildlife Artist Racheal Rios
Visual artist Racheal Rios’s work reflects the cultures and ecosystems of her hometown of Tucson, Ariz. Her bold, iconographic work features native wildlife and saint-like figures, cactus and flowers,...
View ArticleLiving Will Template for Critically Endangered Species
In the event that my species is so badly depleted due to hunting or habitat loss that it is on the verge of extinction, and I am (still) unable to direct my own care, I hereby authorize this Living...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beavers, National Parks and Trump’s Attacks on Science: 16 New Environmental...
We’ve made it past Memorial Day weekend, which means that for many of us it’s time to start planning our summer reading lists. Luckily there are plenty of new environmentally themed books coming out in...
View ArticleFarmed Fish Threaten British Columbia’s Wild Salmon Population
Something fishy is going on in the coastal waters of Canada’s British Columbia, and it may prove to be the final nail in the coffin of the already endangered wild salmon in this part of the world. Over...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We Need Bold Protests, Says ‘Stop Shopping’ Activist Rev. Billy Talen
This is a tough time to be a protestor. Around the country a new wave of legislation has attempted to criminalize people speaking out about environmental and social issues or standing up against...
View ArticleSorry AC/DC, Rock and Roll Is Noise Pollution
It’s a rare scientific paper that cites both biologist E.O. Wilson and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. In fact, there’s only one paper with that distinction: “Testing the AC/DC hypothesis: Rock and roll...
View Article