Need something to smile about? Here’s a story about smiling turtles saved from extinction in Myanmar. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/return-of-myanmar-smiling-burmese-roofed-turtle…
Tag: habitat
Trump administration to approve Arctic wildlife refuge for oil and gas drilling
The section of the refuge poised to be leased is a key habitat for Arctic wildlife. Source: https://www.livescience.com/oil-drilling-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge.html
Rare plant may prevent the first lithium quarry in the US from opening
Tiehm’s buckwheat is an extremely rare plant that thrives in soil containing lithium and boron. Both elements are vital for renewable energy technologies, but mining for them will destroy most of the plant’s habitat Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251905-rare-plant-may-prevent-the-first-lithium-quarry-in-the-us-from-opening/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Satellites discover new penguin colonies from space
Satellite images have revealed 11 previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica, identified by telltale reddish-brown guano stains the birds leave on the ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/satellite-new-emperor-penguin-colonies-from-space…
Western Bumblebee Population Drops Up To 93% Over the Last 20 Years
The western bumblebee is one of around 30 bumblebee species in the western U.S. and Canada. Now a federal review “unveils an alarming trend for the western bumblebee population, which has seen its numbers dwindle by as much as 93% in the last two decades,” reports the Associated Press: The find by the U.S. Geological Survey will help inform a species…
Habitat Mars: Learning to live sustainably on the red planet
There’s quite a bit of buzz these days about how humanity could become a “multiplanetary” species. This is understandable, considering that space agencies and aerospace companies from around the world are planning on conducting missions to low earth orbit (LEO), the moon, and Mars in the coming years, not to mention establishing a permanent human presence there and beyond. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-habitat-mars-sustainably-red-planet.html…
Beneath the surface of our galaxy’s water worlds
Out beyond our solar system, visible only as the smallest dot in space with even the most powerful telescopes, other worlds exist. Many of these worlds, astronomers have discovered, may be much larger than Earth and completely covered in water—basically ocean planets with no protruding land masses. What kind of life could develop on such a world? Could a habitat like…
Happy World Oceans Day 2020
Why a World Oceans Day? Consider that Remdesivir, an antiviral medication now undergoing clinical trials as a possible Covid-19 treatment, contains compounds found in sea sponges. Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean is the theme for World Oceans Day 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/happy-world-oceans-day…
Cold War Satellites Inadvertently Tracked Species Declines
sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit in 1957, the United States responded with its own spy satellites. The espionage program, known as Corona, sought to locate Soviet missile sites, but its Google Earth-like photography captured something unintended: snapshots of animals and their habitats frozen in time. Now, by comparing these images with…
Learn to recognize the wildlife out your window
With careful observation, you can start to recognize a particular squirrel, or that certain cardinal pair that hangs out on your feeder. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/learn-to-recognize-individual-birds-wildlife…