The Australian lungfish is a river fish native to southeastern Queensland. According to fossil records, the ancestors of this ancient fish appeared about 380 million years ago. As their name suggests, lungfish don’t just breathe with their gills, but also have a lung to supplement oxygen intake during unusual circumstances, such as when there is […]
The California State Water Resources Control Board has ordered Arrowhead bottled water’s parent company BlueTriton to significantly reduce the amount of water it takes from natural springs in the San Bernardino National Forest. The company has been drawing water from the Strawberry Creek watershed, which provides protection from wildfires and serves as an important wildlife […]
In a new study, researchers have linked light pollution in urban areas to smaller eye sizes found in two common songbird species. Researchers studied the northern cardinal and Carolina wren that live year-round in San Antonio, Texas, a city with an estimated population of about 1,472,900 people, and compared these birds to the same two […]
Originally introduced to North America in the 1800s, the European starling is a magnificent bird, tawny brown with white spots in winter, shining with iridescent purple and green feathers in summer. Not only are they dazzling, since starlings are also some of the most skilled vocal learners, with the ability to mimic the calls of […]
A new study by an international team of 29 scientists from eight countries provides the third update to the planetary boundaries framework. The update shows how human activities are increasingly impacting our planet, thus augmenting the risk of triggering drastic changes in Earth’s overall conditions. The nine planetary boundaries represent the limits within which humans […]
More than 80 percent of the world is affected by light pollution. Humans have become so accustomed to not seeing stars in the city that, following a blackout caused by a 1984 earthquake in Los Angeles, people reported seeing a “giant silvery cloud,” which was in fact our own Milky Way galaxy showing up in […]
A lost hiker in Alaska’s Katmai National Park was rescued after being spotted on a livestream camera that viewers were observing to catch glimpses of brown bears. Viewers were tuning into Explore.org’s Dumpling Mountain livestream, which comes from one of many of the organization’s cameras placed within the park. During this time of year, many […]
Once a native species of Florida, American flamingos mostly disappeared in the state due to hunting around the turn of the twentieth century. These days they are mostly found in the Caribbean and Central and South America. Recently, the exotic birds — whose pink feathers come from their diet of brine shrimp and algae containing […]
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced last week the canceling of oil and gas drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The leases were previously sold on Jan. 6, 2021, during former president Donald Trump’s term, but were then suspended by the Biden administration in June 2021. The leases would have […]