Ecosystems
Combining crops and solar panels is allowing Kenya to “harvest the sun twice”
The panels are mounted high enough for crops to be grown underneath, sheltering them from the sun and allowing rainwater harvesting.
Digital sound archives can bring extinct birds (briefly) back to life
Sound recordings remind us that these beings are invaluable, and that humans have a duty to preserve them.
Using robotic fish to harness the “ecology of fear”
To fight an invasive fish threatening Australia’s critically endangered freshwater natives, researchers are looking to robotic predators — and the “ecology of fear” they create.
Online tree of life now connects 2.2 million living species
OneZoom is an interactive “tree of life” that lets you explore the evolutionary connections between more than two million species.
Underwater speakers draw fish to restore coral reefs
Reef restoration researchers found that fish were more inclined to settle near new reefs if they sounded like they were already thriving.
Emergency sea otters needed to save California’s kelp forests
A conservationist suggests relocating sea otters to Northern California to eat the sea urchins destroying the coast’s vital kelp forests.
Hemp plants pull toxic “forever chemicals” from soil
To rid an indigenous tribe’s land of toxic forever chemicals, scientists are having hemp plants pull the contaminants straight from the soil.
Should a herd of captive elephants be released into the wild?
Animal conservationists plan to attempt the largest elephant rewilding ever, flying an entire herd from a U.K. zoo to Kenya to be released.
Scientists map the DNA from that strange pink snow
A group of European researchers have hiked the Alps to look into the phenomenon of pink snow. They have now sequenced the DNA from the algae that is the hallmark of the rosey color.