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Winter 2012
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Captive Breeding
Behind bars, prisoners work to rehabilitate endangered species
A Feathered Nest
Bird diversity linked to increased home values
Backfire
Protected status makes rare species more valuable to trophy hunters
Dirty Laundry
Clothes washers are pumping plastic into the ocean
In-Shoe Technology
A quick stroll could recharge your phone
Body Count
Assessing the impact of bird collisions with television towers and skyscrapers
Net Gain
Fishing regulations vastly reduce sea turtle deaths
February 1, 2012
Hot Art?
Climbing global temperatures and humidity could damage museum collections
Soon, Salvador Dalí’s surrealist paintings could begin to droop like his famous clocks.
Unlikely, perhaps. But when it comes to preserving old buildings, chairs or paintings, many curators and art collectors haven’t considered an important variable, according to a new study: climate change. Researchers recently probed two historic European castles, now small museums, and […] Read More »
January 31, 2012
Into The Ditch
Disrespected trenches turn out to hold respectable biodiversity
Marsh creatures may be down in a ditch in the Netherlands. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A new survey of semi-wet habitats in Holland finds that drainage ditches rival shallow lakes in hosting diverse populations of animals, from snails to fish. The soggy cul-de-sacs could be important refuges for Europe’s once-common bog […] Read More »
January 31, 2012
Abandoned Carbon
That vacant house may be helping soak up carbon emissions
Eyesores. Fire traps. Rat manors. Abandoned homes aren’t popular with the neighbors. But their weedy, unkempt lawns may be helping suck carbon out of the atmosphere, a new study suggests.
“Residential abandonment is on the rise in many urban areas,” Christopher M. Gough and Hunter L. Elliott of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond write […] Read More »
January 29, 2012
The Lake House Effect
Shoreline settlements appear to protect Polish waterfowl from hungry mink
Shoreline development is often fingered as a big problem for lake life, including nesting waterfowl. In northern Poland, however, built-up areas appear to be helping, not hurting, nesting birds – by scaring away rapacious exotic mink, a new study concludes.
“The Mazurian Lakeland, in northeastern Poland, has been recognized as an important region for […] Read More »
January 25, 2012
A Global Sunshade
Controversial geoengineering concept could help crops, perhaps
It’s one of the more controversial ideas out there for confronting climate change: Use high-flying airplanes to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere that would scatter sunlight back to space. But researchers have worried that such “sunshade geoengineering” could have unintended consequences for the world’s farmers. A preliminary modeling study, […] Read More »
January 24, 2012
Missing Moths
What’s happening to Britain’s night flyers?
Just a decade ago, moths were a bit of a dark secret for biologists. Dependable population statistics were scarce, leaving conservationists guessing about trends. Now, British biologists are getting a better idea of how the insects are doing in the United Kingdom (U.K.) – and the news is worrying. A new study takes a […] Read More »
