Science & Technology
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Snowy owl rescued from vehicle grille in Duluth, Minn.
A snowy owl was rescued Monday evening by a woman who was surprised to find it trapped in the grille of a car in a Duluth, Minnesota, parking lot.
Annabell Whelan, a good Samaritan who had also rescued another owl earlier in the day, said she was near the Bentleyville “Tour of Lights” display at Bayfront Festival Park when she found the ...Read more
Colorado stops water testing at state lab amid investigation into manipulated data
DENVER — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has suspended a second chemist and stopped water testing at the state laboratory amid a state investigation into manipulated data.
State public health officials on Dec. 20 identified that a second chemist had manipulated quality control data, contributing to the lapses in ...Read more
The war on wildfires is going high tech
Last December, a farmer was burning dry grapevines in his vineyard in Deir Mar Moussa, a hill town a dozen miles east of Beirut known for its 18th century monastery and stands of pine forest. Usually this would be dangerous, given that Lebanon’s hot and dry climate can quickly turn a spark into a conflagration.
But on this day the worst was ...Read more
Separating science and the humanities is hurting us
Remember the story about the elephant seen from different perspectives? Here’s a twist.
A biologist with a telescope peered at the animal and said, I see a hairy grayness horizon to horizon.
A toenail fungus specialist examined its feet, and prescribed antibiotics.
A climate change specialist didn’t see the elephant because he was fixated...Read more
Where squirrels collide: Are Minnesota's southern flying squirrels overtaking their northern cousins?
Forest researchers in north-central Minnesota are bringing the little-analyzed world of an elusive night creature into the light.
There is a dearth of state research about flying squirrels, a diminutive, rarely seen critter with outsized skills. Minnesota has two species of the little aerialists, a southern and a northern, and where they meet ...Read more
How long do right whales live? Nearly twice as long as previously thought, study finds
Southern right whales can live to be more than 130 years old — which is decades longer than previously thought, according to new research.
The marine animals, a type of baleen whale found in the southern hemisphere, have the gift of “extreme longevity,” according to a study published on Dec. 20 in the journal Science Advances and an ...Read more
3 years after the Marshall Fire: Wildfire smoke’s health risks can linger long-term in homes that escape burning
Three years ago, on Dec. 30, 2021, a wind-driven wildfire raced through two communities just outside Boulder, Colorado. In the span of about eight hours, more than 1,000 homes and businesses burned.
The fire left entire blocks in ash, but among them, pockets of houses survived, seemingly untouched. The owners of these homes may have ...Read more
Colorado's landfills leak climate-warming methane into the air. What's the state going to do about it?
Landfills in Colorado release millions of metric tons of greenhouse gasses each year as organic waste including food, paper and yard trimmings decomposes into the soil, contributing to global warming and harming human health.
Colorado, as part of its multipronged approach to eliminate 90% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, is ...Read more
State proposes killing 100 wolves a year to benefit moose between Denali and Lake Clark parks
State wildlife officials want permission to kill 100 wolves a year via aerial gunning in a massive game unit bounded by Denali National Park and Preserve and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.
The request by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is scheduled to be heard by the state Board of Game at a mid-January meeting in Wasilla, along ...Read more
Baltimore's wastewater plants have made improvements. Will they bring lasting change?
BALTIMORE — All around the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, Mike Hallmen points to evidence that change is afoot.
Water-filled chambers that were once clogged with mucky brown sediment or choked by vegetation now run clear. Construction crews repair the concrete wall of a massive circular tank. Below the golden egg-shaped domes of the ...Read more
Commercial Dungeness crab season to open along portion of California coast
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the commercial Dungeness crab fishery south of the Mendocino-Sonoma county line will officially open early next month.
Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6, which stretch to the U.S.-Mexico border, will open Jan. 5 at 12:01 a.m., with pre-soak beginning Jan. 2 at 8:01 a...Read more
California bans invasive golden mussels in battle to keep species out of state's waters
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It is now illegal to possess or transport golden mussels in California.
California Fish and Game Commission has designated the golden mussel a restricted species, the latest salvo in the battle to keep the invasive species out of the state’s waterways. The mussels are considered an immediate threat to the ecological ...Read more
Nevada's wild horses and burros still the subject of awe, inhumane treatment
LAS VEGAS — Driving over the cattle guards that mark the boundaries of the Las Vegas Valley, Southern Nevadans are likely to come across an equine friend or two. Or a herd of them.
Wild horses and burros, considered to be an emblem of the unconquerable American West, have been a permanent fixture of the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert for ...Read more
Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures
We named him Squirt – not because he was the smallest of the 16 cuttlefish in the pool, but because anyone with the audacity to scoop him into a separate tank to study him was likely to get soaked. Squirt had notoriously accurate aim.
As a comparative psychologist, I’m used to assaults from my experimental subjects. I’ve been ...Read more
Climate change is making plants less nutritious − that could already be hurting animals that are grazers
More than one-third of all animals on Earth, from beetles to cows to elephants, depend on plant-based diets. Plants are a low-calorie food source, so it can be challenging for animals to consume enough energy to meet their needs. Now climate change is reducing the nutritional value of some foods that plant eaters rely on.
Human ...Read more
California squirrels are now apparently hunting and eating other rodents
LOS ANGELES — A UC Davis study showed a nutty novel behavior in California squirrels: They're hunting like carnivores, taking down and then consuming other, smaller rodents.
As part of an ongoing 12-year study of California ground squirrels at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, researchers last summer watched as squirrels began to ...Read more
Environmental groups challenge update to California's low-carbon transportation rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Environmental groups challenged California’s leading climate regulator Wednesday, alleging in new lawsuits that a recent update to a leading climate program will create additional pollution in the state’s San Joaquin Valley.
Two separate complaints allege the California Air Resources Board did not assess or alleviate ...Read more
Burping, barking and begging: study reveals how whale calves communicate with mothers
As many parents can attest, babies often make telltale noises when they’re hungry. It turns out, newborn whales do the same thing.
Humpback whale calves signal their desire to eat by making barking, burping, begging and snorting sounds, according to a study published on Dec. 18 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological ...Read more
EPA investigating taconite mine for pollution that threatens wild rice
In a novel attempt to enforce a longstanding Minnesota rule protecting wild rice, the EPA is investigating U.S. Steel’s taconite mine, Keetac, for repeatedly releasing a rice-killing pollutant into surface waters.
The mine and tailings site in Keewatin broke sulfate limits set in two wastewater permits 299 times between 2019 and 2022, the EPA...Read more
Rare species found 'thriving' in streams after rescue from wildfires. 'Huge milestone'
Years after a wildfire threatened to wipe out a rare, genetically unique species in a tiny Colorado creek, it was found “thriving” in new streams, officials said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently found evidence of the unique cutthroat trout surviving multiple years and even naturally reproducing in the wild — “a huge milestone in ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Separating science and the humanities is hurting us
- Where squirrels collide: Are Minnesota's southern flying squirrels overtaking their northern cousins?
- 3 years after the Marshall Fire: Wildfire smoke’s health risks can linger long-term in homes that escape burning
- The war on wildfires is going high tech
- How long do right whales live? Nearly twice as long as previously thought, study finds
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