Parasites are going extinct in droves – and we should be very worried

They cause deadly diseases and brainwash crickets to leap into ponds, so why are conservationists fighting to save parasites from extinction? Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432540-500-parasites-are-going-extinct-in-droves-and-we-should-be-very-worried/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Tiny stature of extinct ‘Hobbit’ thanks to fast evolution

New research suggests that the tiny human species – that survived until about 18,000 years ago, later than any human species other than our own – evolved its small size remarkably quickly while living on an isolated island. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/tiny-extinct-hobbit-human-species-fast-evolution…

The last mammoths died on a remote island

A new study suggests that about 4,000 years ago, a combination of Isolation, extreme weather, and the arrival of humans on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean killed off Earth’s last population of mammoths. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/last-wooly-mammoths-died-on-remote-island…

Automatic License Plate Readers Are Making Getaway Cars Extinct

An anonymous reader shares a report: On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the Total Choice Credit Union in Laplace, Louisiana was robbed. At approximately 3:06 pm, a man in his early thirties walked in wearing jeans, a white shirt, sunglasses, and a brown dreadlock wig, according to a now-unsealed complaint filed last month in US federal court. He passed a handwritten note to…

Why leaves change color in fall

The vivid yellows and oranges of autumn leaves are there throughout spring and summer, but hidden. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/why-do-tree-leaves-turn-red-in-fall…

These giant croc-like carnivores terrorized Triassic dinosaurs

Researchers have identified fossil remains as belonging to rauisuchians, predatory crocodile-like animals that fed on early dinosaurs and mammal relatives 210 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/extinct-giant-croclike-carnivores-triassic-rauisuchian…

CRISPR Might Be the Banana’s Only Hope Against a Deadly Fungus

An anonymous reader quotes Nature:
The race to engineer the next-generation banana is on. The Colombian government confirmed last month that a banana-killing fungus has invaded the Americas — the source of much of the world’s banana supply. The invasion has given new urgency to efforts to create fruit that can withstand the scourge. Scientists are using a mix of approaches to…