As grizzly bears expand their range in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming into places where they haven’t been seen in a century or more, they’re increasingly encountering humans. From a report: Things intensified last summer as trails and campgrounds across the region flooded with inexperienced tourists seeking refuge in the outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic. Grizzly attacks spiked. Bear managers were inundated…
Tag: national parks
Alphabet Project Uses Light Beams To Bring Broadband To Remote Regions
An Alphabet X innovation lab project has been working on a high-speed wireless optical communications network that uses beams of light instead of cables or radio waves, and folks in Kenya will be the first to benefit from the fruits of these labors. New Atlas reports: Project Taara, a part of Alphabet’s X moonshot factory, has been working on a wireless…
Germany Plans To Dim Lights At Night To Save Insects
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MSN: In a draft law seen by AFP, the country’s environment ministry has drawn up a number of new measures to protect insects, ranging from partially outlawing spotlights to increased protection of natural habitats. “Insects play an important role in the ecosystem…but in Germany, their numbers and their diversity has severely declined in recent…
10 great places to see meteor showers in the US
Looking for an awesome place to watch meteor showers in the U.S.? AccuWeather – and the editors of EarthSky – recommend these 10 places. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/10-great-places-to-see-meteor-showers-in-us…
Plastic rain: More than 1,000 tons of microplastic rain onto western US
New research finds that microplastics are emitted into the atmosphere. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/microplastic-rain-western-us…
Plastic Rain In Protected Areas of the United States
Writing today in the journal Science, researchers report a startling discovery: After collecting rainwater and air samples for 14 months, they calculated that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles fall into 11 protected areas in the western U.S. each year. That’s the equivalent of over 120 million plastic water bottles. Wired: To quantify just how bad the problem has become…
Aussie Firefighters Save World’s Only Groves Of Prehistoric Wollemi Pines
As wildfires tear through Australia, a specialized team of firefighters has managed to save hidden groves of the Wollemi pine — a rare prehistoric tree that outlived the dinosaurs. The trees are so rare, they were thought to be extinct until 1994. From a report: It was a lifesaving mission as dramatic as any in the months-long battle against the wildfires…
EarthSky’s 2020 meteor shower guide
All you need to know about major meteor showers in 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide…
All you need to know: 2019’s Leonid meteor shower
Here are all the details you need for 2019’s Leonid meteor shower, peaking on the morning of November 18, though under the light of a waning gibbous moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-leonid-meteor-shower…
10 amazing places for year-round stargazing
The stars are accessible to everyone, but where can you get the most from the night sky? Here are 10 great dark-sky places – mostly in the U.S. but also in Australia, New Zealand and Chile – for skywatching and stargazing. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/10-amazing-places-for-year-round-stargazing…