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EartherScientists Are Sticking Cameras on Whales to Explore the Changing Antarctic
The waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula are warming rapidly, yet we know very little about how this is impacting some of the region’s most charismatic denizens: the filter-feeding baleen whales that call this icy realm home. But a team of scientists is hoping to change that with the help of their flippered subjects. They’re flying … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherBeneath the Arctic’s Sea Ice, Robots Are Illuminating a Mysterious World
Less than 200 miles from the North Pole in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, the German icebreaker Polarstern sits frozen into the ice and shrouded in darkness. Several times a week, a handful of crew members venture forth from the relative safety and warmth of their vessel into a realm of bone-chilling temperatures, ice, … Continued
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Tech NewsA Recycling Renegade Is Out of Prison—and Ready to Tackle the Electric Vehicle Battery Crisis
In a warehouse in Chatsworth, California, rows upon rows of giant wooden crates are stacked forty feet high, in a scene somewhat reminiscent of the secret U.S. military installation shown at the end of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Instead of Biblical artifacts, though, these boxes contain a more modern form of treasure: … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsDoes My Smartwatch’s Sleep Tracker Actually Do Anything?
For most of my adult life, I didn’t really think about sleep: It was just an activity that my body required, for about six to eight hours a night, in order to not feel like garbage the next day. Rarely did I pause to consider the quality of my rest or whether my sleep patterns … Continued
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io9Sci-FiIf You Care About Earth, You Should Watch The Expanse
After a close brush with death before Amazon swooped in to save it, The Expanse is officially back for a fourth season in December. Which means that if you’re not already obsessed with the space opera that blends interplanetary politicking and battles with alien monsters, you’ve got a few months to catch up. But it’s … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherConservationHow Elephants May Help Africa’s Rainforests Fight Climate Change
Although we’re wiping them out with little consideration of it, big herbivores matter. Hippo poop helps Africa’s largest lake flourish; bison wallowing can enhance insect diversity in the prairie. And Africa’s imperiled forest elephants might just have a role to play in the fight against climate change. That, at least, is the takeaway of a … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate ChangeUpdate on Our 2020 Climate Summit
On Friday, The New Republic published an offensive, homophobic attack on Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg. The article was swiftly condemned for being inappropriate, and it was taken down from the site Saturday. In light of these events, The New Republic is withdrawing its participation from our recently announced 2020 Democratic presidential forum on climate change, … Continued
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EartherWest Coast Residents Seriously Underestimate the Threat of a Catastrophic Earthquake, Survey Finds
As last week’s major earthquakes in Southern California reminded us, we humans are still at the mercy of the geologically-active planet we live on. But despite the ever-present seismic threat, there’s a lot more West Coast cities could be doing to prepare their infrastructure and citizens for disaster, like implementing stricter building codes and restrictions … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherNewly-Discovered ‘Vibranium’ Fish Named in Honor of Wakanda
While SCUBA diving off the coast of Zanzibar, marine biologist Luiz Rocha saw a fish he had never seen before. He sent a photograph to his collaborator Yi-Kai Tea, currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney, who confirmed that it was a new species of fairy wrasse from the genus Cirrhilabrus. As a … Continued
David Shiffman -
EartherExtreme WeatherAlaska’s Wildfire Season Is Exploding, Spreading Smoke Across the State
Historic, record-breaking heat isn’t the only environmental malaise that’s gripped Alaska this summer. So has wildfire smoke. An incredible satellite image taken on July 8 shows smoke spreading far and wide across Alaska as a spate of hot, dry weather causes the state’s wildfire season to kick into high gear. Dense smoke advisories and red … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherNatural DisastersThat Big California Earthquake Left a Scar That’s Visible From Space
Friday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake near Ridgecrest, California, was nothing to sneeze at. The shake, which triggered gas leaks, power outages, and fires, was felt from San Diego to Sacramento. And it ripped open a new fissure in the Earth that didn’t escape the notice of humanity’s ever-growing satellite fleet. Before-and-after imagery captured by Planet Labs … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate ChangeThe World’s Second-Largest Rainforest Is Losing the Carbon It’s Held for a Thousand Years
The Congo Basin is the second-largest rainforest on Earth, and like most tropical forests, it’s getting chewed up by humans. That’s a problem for the climate, and not just because trees are a natural sponge helping to mop up humanity’s ever-rising carbon emissions. New research suggests that as trees are replaced with fields for agriculture, … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherMeet the People Risking Their Lives to Study Our Dying Mountain Glaciers
When geoscientist and mountaineer John All started studying the impacts of climate change on world’s highest mountain glaciers over a decade ago, he said it was like monitoring a sick patient. Now, it’s more like doing an autopsy. “We’re just watching the glaciers decay, effectively,” All told Earther. And yet All, who directs Western Washington … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate ChangeAlaska Is Hot and on Fire
Europe isn’t the only part of the world that’s been roasting and burning of late. So is Alaska. Record and near-record heat swept the Last Frontier over the weekend, with stations across the state’s interior recording daily highs of close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. On Sunday, temperatures rose to 92 degrees in Northway … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherScientists Find Dozens of Lakes Buried Far Below Greenland’s Ice
For decades, scientists working in Antarctica have been documenting subglacial lakes, bodies of water buried miles beneath the ice. They’ve spotted more than 400 of them, and even drilled into a few and found evidence for both living and long-dead lifeforms. But despite their ubiquity at the bottom of the world, no one had really … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate ChangeWildfire Explodes in Spain as Europe Reels From Record Heat
Fanned by fierce winds and searing temperatures, a wildfire is exploding in size in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain. According to the Catalan interior minister, it could be the worst blaze the region has seen in 20 years. The fire, which began on Wednesday, spread rapidly and has consumed at least 5,169 hectares (12,773 … Continued
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EartherEnvironmental PolicyHuge New Review of Fracking’s Health Hazards Will Help Communities Fight It
A sweeping report that evolved from work that helped ban fracking in New York State has been released to help the public fight the practice as it pops up elsewhere across the country. Published last week by the Physicians for Social Responsibility (the group that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its work … Continued
Erin Biba -
EartherClimate ChangeThe Gateway Protecting the Arctic’s Oldest Sea Ice Has Collapsed Months Ahead of Schedule
Every summer as the Arctic warms up, seasonal highways open on the ocean, allowing sea ice to migrate southward and melt. Now, satellite data is revealing that the gateway to one critical highway—the Nares Strait dividing northwest Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island—has broken up months ahead of schedule. And that could spell even more trouble … Continued
By Maddie Stone
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