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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 8, 2012
Tree Fall
Urban trees are disappearing in U.S.
Urban development may have thrown a kink into novelist Betty Smith’s central metaphor for life: It might not be so easy for a tree to grow in Brooklyn today. A new analysis of aerial photographs taken from above 20 cities shows an alarming and not-green trend. Trees seem to be dwindling across urban America. […] Read More »
February 7, 2012
Solemn Salmon Report
California’s once vibrant salmon and trout populations may soon blink away
Quick on the heals of the U.S. 2010 census, scientists are also taking a tally of slippery creatures: California salmon. And the news isn’t good. Close to 77% of California’s distinct populations of salmon and trout could go extinct within the state by the end of the century, a new analysis suggests.
California, known […] Read More »
February 6, 2012
Rubber Worms
Storks have trouble telling worms and bands apart
Next time you shoot a rubber band, think about where it might end up. White Storks in France often snap up the stretchy strips, mistaking them for worms, a new study finds. Sometimes, the case of mistaken identity can be deadly.
“Contamination of the environment with nonedible items that mimic food can cause health […] Read More »
February 5, 2012
Leafy Calm
Access to greenery evens out stress hormones
Henry David Thoreau famously fled to a small cabin on Massachusetts’ Walden Pond to recoup his mental faculties. The American writer, it seems, didn’t just inspire generations of poets both good and bad. He also may have stumbled across a prescription for better health. A new study shows that even brief encounters with parks […] Read More »
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 »
