One senses that bear-proof garbage disposal will become more of a local priority there. And there’s always the Canadian solution, the polar bear jail.
Ecology
Researchers: Coralline red algae existed 300 million years earlier than thought
Four hundred and thirty million years ago, according to ScienceDaily: The discovery made by FAU palaeontologists Dr. Sebastian Teichert, Prof. Dr. Axel Munnecke and their Australian colleague Dr. William Woelkerling has far-reaching consequences. ‘Our finds mean that we must now look at the fossil record in a completely new way’, explains Dr. Sebastian Teichert. Up […]
Researchers: Termites protect their ecosystem against drought
You’d almost think the system was designed to be stable over a range of climate conditions while slowly changing over time.
Are synthetic chemicals altering the fabric of our bodies?
It’s certainly worth reflecting on: It’s fair to say that PCBs and fluorocarbons have altered the biochemical composition of the food web and the interior of the human body, and in the case of the PFASs, the water we drink. (Some PFASs can even fall with rain.) These have been swift, sweeping changes over the […]
Can beavers contribute to evolution by transforming the tundra?
Anyone familiar with beavers will know that the big busy rodents can transform roads into ponds. They are making a comeback in Alaska: Beavers may be infiltrating the region for the first time in recent history as climate change makes conditions more hospitable, says Ken Tape, an ecologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Or […]
Researcher: Human impact is a “reshaping of the tree of life”
Sarah Otto, a University of British Columbia researcher, tells media about her research, Her paper is replete with examples from bird species slowly forgetting to migrate to mosquito breeds adapted specifically to underground subway tunnels. Backyard bird feeders are behind changes in the beak shape and strength of house finches. Different mammals are becoming nocturnal as […]
News: Anthropologist does not see chimpanzees as fuzzy humans
It’s great to see concern for primate apes taking a rational turn that can actually be in their interests: In recent years, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation organizations, and animal rights groups have told the public to stop touching chimpanzees and other wild animals. National Geographic, PETA, and even Instagram draw explicit links between human touch and […]
Assumed extinct, tree kangaroo reappears
The wondiwoi was spotted by an expedition led by amateur botanist Michael White, who spends vacations looking for rare flora: The Wondiwoi tree kangaroo had not been collected, seen, or reported since that first sighting [in 1928]. Despite weighing up to 35 pounds, tree kangaroos are remarkably cryptic, often remaining totally hidden high in the […]
New Scientist: Monkeys “look like” they are domesticating wolves
Then that is the monkeys’ mistake, not the wolves’: In the alpine grasslands of eastern Africa, Ethiopian wolves and gelada monkeys are giving peace a chance. The geladas – a type of baboon – tolerate wolves wandering right through the middle of their herds, while the wolves ignore potential meals of baby geladas in favour […]
Researchers: As soon as macroscopic life evolved, it formed communities
In short, there was no long, slow, Darwinian development of complex communities. We need a word for this: How about… ecological creationism?
Plants use flashes of fluorescent light to warn leaves against insects
From ScienceDaily: In one video, you can see a hungry caterpillar, first working around a leaf’s edges, approaching the base of the leaf and, with one last bite, severing it from the rest of the plant. Within seconds, a blaze of fluorescent light washes over the other leaves, a signal that they should prepare for […]
Humans lived in Madagascar 6000 years earlier than thought
And probably did not kill off all the elephant birds, as often claimed, say researchers: Analysis of bones, from what was once the world’s largest bird, has revealed that humans arrived on the tropical island of Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than previously thought—according to a study published today, 12 September 2018, in the journal […]
Contra stereotype, some sharks eat seagrass
Just when we thought we had these thing figured out. Intro of topic Sharks are infamous meat-eaters. The ocean’s buffet of fish, crabs, mussels, shrimp and krill fill the legendary predators’ stomachs and give them sustenance. Now researchers have discovered that one particular species, bonnethead sharks, also dine on seagrass to meet their nutritional needs. […]
Another academic freedom meltdown in science, this time re GMOs
From Alex Berezow at American Council on Science and Health: Pro-GMO Professor Fired for Endorsing Glyphosate David Zaruk is an expert in European Union regulations and risk communication. He writes a blog, titled The Risk-Monger, which largely examines regulatory issues involving biotechnology, such as GMOs and glyphosate. For nearly a decade, he also was an […]
Butterfly “extinction” that wasn’t
From ScienceDaily: The evolution of wild species, adapting them to human management practices, can cause localised extinctions when those practices rapidly change. And in a new study published in Nature, Professors Michael C. Singer and Camille Parmesan have used more than 30 years of research to fully document an example of this process. A large, […]