Earth Has At Least Six Hidden Moons
NASA has officially confirmed that Earth has a “second moon” called 2025 PN7, though it’s technically a quasi moon that travels around the sun in near lockstep with our planet rather than orbiting us directly. First spotted by researchers in Hawaii over the summer using the Pan-STARRS telescope, the asteroid sized rock has likely been […]
This Dam Removal Could Save Endangered Species
The Nature Conservancy purchased four dams along Maine’s lower Kennebec River for $138 million in a deal that will open hundreds of miles of prime spawning habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon for the first time in a century. The Weston, Shawmut, Hydro-Kennebec, and Lockwood dams currently prevent ocean-going fish like salmon, river herring, Atlantic sturgeon, […]
This Nation Sets A New Standard For The Amazon
Suriname, a small nation on South America’s northern coast that’s 90% covered in rainforest, just announced it will protect 90% of all its forest cover by law—over 25 million acres. President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons made the historic commitment within her first two months in office, saying the country understands the immense responsibility of stewarding over 15 […]
Bamboo May Be Replacing Plastic Soon
Dawei Zhao at Shenyang University of Chemical Technology in China developed a way to turn bamboo cellulose into a rigid biodegradable plastic that actually outperforms regular plastic for mechanical strength and heat resistance. His method uses zinc chloride and simple acid to break up the complex bonds in bamboo fiber, then adds ethanol to create […]
The Internet Is Rooting For This Butterfly
When a woman brought a stranded monarch butterfly with a broken wing to the Sweetbriar Nature Center in New York, wildlife rehabilitation director Janine Bendicksen had to think fast and try something nobody had ever attempted before. She found a dead monarch in her vivarium that could serve as a donor and carefully transplanted its […]
The MIT Researcher Saving Agriculture From Itself
Giorgio Rizzo, an MIT postdoc who grew up fascinated by nature in Palermo, Sicily, is developing next-generation sustainable fertilizers that could revolutionize agriculture by reducing its massive environmental impact while helping farmers increase crop yields without compromising soil quality or plant health. Rizzo is creating new fertilizer formulations that can be applied as seed coatings […]
This MUSHROOM-Powered Toilet Changes Everything
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have created a mushroom-powered waterless toilet that turns human waste into compost using mycelia, the root network of mushrooms, in what users are calling a beautiful experience comparable to a Scandinavian sauna. The MycoToilet, housed in a small cedar-sided building dropped among the trees at UBC’s Botanical Garden […]
They Were Endangered Since The 1980s But They Are BACK
Green turtles have made a remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction in what scientists are calling a major conservation victory after decades of being hunted extensively for turtle soup, eggs, and decorative shells. Once listed as endangered since the 1980s with populations plummeting worldwide, new data shows these ancient mariners are finally rebounding thanks […]
Bursting Back To Life After 130 Years Underground
When ecosystem ecologist Shelby Riskin examined disk-shaped samples of old soil from Toronto’s waterfront hoping to find trace evidence of destroyed wetland plants, she watched in astonishment through a microscope as a brown wormlike creature greedily munched through green algae as if more than 130 years hadn’t passed since its last meal, while water fleas, […]
Record Breaking Pumpkin Elephant Mosaic
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in North Somerset has unveiled a record-breaking jumbo elephant mosaic made from an astonishing 11,000 home-grown pumpkins and gourds, celebrating an annual harvest tradition that began six years ago when pumpkins were found unexpectedly growing on the elephant muck heap after the zoo’s bachelor group of African elephants enjoyed seasonal treats […]