Citizen Scientists’ Makeshift ‘Coffee Filter Arks’ Help Prevent These Sparrows Chicks from Drowning
This is a saltmarsh sparrow, an Endangered species of bird that builds its nest in its eponymous habitat. A collaboration of citizen scientists working in Jacob’s Point salt marsh in Rhode Island is attempting to save the animal—which they believe will go extinct by mid-century—from drowning in the marsh. In a state of nature untouched […]
112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve a Snapshot of an Ancient Forest
In the blockbuster 1993 film Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg’s screenwriters tell the story of scientists who recover dinosaur DNA from a mosquito entombed in amber and use it to clone the animals back into existence. Today, a recent paleontological discovery comes to the very doorstep of that fictional tale, bringing much of the excitement, short of the […]
Rarest Monkeys Now Number Close to 2,000 Thanks to One Man’s Jane Goodall-like Passion
From the BBC comes the story of an intrepid and dedicated scientist who has spent decades working in China’s mountain forests in an effort to protect and understand one of the nation’s most amazing animals. The golden sub-nosed monkey is revered alongside the giant panda as “national treasures” of Chinese wildlife, yet this couldn’t protect […]
The Seine in Paris Now Cools 800 Buildings in the Summer: ‘People Are So Proud’
The world’s most romantic river also helps prevent residents from getting all hot and bothered, cooling their offices and homes through a heat transfer system. Currently, around 60 miles of piping channels water to and from the Seine in Paris, but it has nothing to do with plumbing. Rather, this network, which includes pumps and […]
Good News in History September 23
164 years ago today, Robert Bosch, founder of the corporation Robert Bosch GmbH, was born in Ulm. One of the most important German industrialists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Bosch and the engineers at his company pioneered the high-voltage magneto ignition system that created the first commercially-viable spark plug for internal combustion engines. Bosch […]
Birth of UK’s Only Bonobo Baby Gives Fresh Hope for World’s Most Endangered Ape
Conservationists and zookeepers are celebrating our closest living relative giving birth to a healthy baby. Heart-tugging photos show the bonobo mother Yuli cradling her tiny newborn after it was born at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire last Thursday. Experts have hailed the birth as a ‘globally significant’ moment which could help save one of the world’s […]
Deep Sea Divers Recover Bell, Other Artifacts From Titanic’s Sunken Sister Ship–The Britannic
A team of deep-sea divers has recovered a slew of artifacts from the wreck of Titanic’s sister ship, a vessel sunk by a mine during the First World War. Called the HMHS Britannic, it was one of three Olympic-class ocean liners built by the White Star Lines company in the early 20th century, with the others being HMS […]
Engineering Student Turns Red Solo Cups into Stylish Sweaters That Don’t Shed Microplastics
A college engineering student is making headlines for her clothing line that spins red solo cups thrown away after fraternity parties into soft sweaters and beanie caps. The process addresses every concern or question one might have, and is finding a second life for these hard-to-recycle cups. Made by companies like Solo and Hefty, solo […]
Six Baby Cheetahs Born in the Richmond Zoo’s Prolific Breeding Program – 167 Cats Since 2013 (WATCH)
At a zoo in Richmond, a raucous litter of cheetah cubs is delighting onlookers having spent the summer months growing in secret. One of the largest litters born at the zoo, the three-month-old cubs are hitting milestones and progressing well towards adolescence. Named after African capitals, such as Lusaka, Kampala, and Cairo, the cubs were […]
Good News in History September 22
40 years ago today, the first Farm Aid benefit concert was held to raise money for family farmers in the United States. The concert was organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, spurred on by Bob Dylan’s comments at Live Aid earlier in that year that he hoped some of the money would […]