Military exercises are boosting biodiversity, according to a study of land used for US training manoeuvres in Germany. Such land has more endangered species than nearby national parks.
Read (Nature)
Specialists plopped the beginnings of 2 million fingernail-sized baby native bay oysters into the Northern Neck’s Yeocomico River as part of a restoration effort.
Read (WTOP)
The variety of species in the world’s oceans has dropped by as much as 50 percent in the past 50 years, according to a paper published in the journal Science.
Read (Washington Post)
Bacteria live everywhere: in the acidic pit of your stomach and in the hot springs of the Galapagos Rift. Now, scientists have discovered them in another unlikely location — at the bottom of the near-freezing waters of Antarctica.
Read (Washington Post)
“Green” cemeteries try to simplify an inevitable aspect of life while competing in America’s roughly $15 billion funeral industry.
Read (New York Times)
Thousands of miles of rivers in the United States are unsafe for swimming due to fecal contamination. Tests routinely show that the water in these rivers is teeming with bacteria linked to waste from humans, cattle, dogs, cats and even wild birds. On many rivers, nobody knows which animals produce the biggest share of this pollution. But now a new group of scientists called “poop detectives” have arrived on the scene. They’re biologists who use police methods to track down animal polluters.
Read (NPR)
For the first time since 1970’s, signs have been posted telling people to stay out of the water at Virginia Beach. The warnings came after water samples showed high levels of bacteria.
Read (WTOP)
The American lobster seems to be thriving in the Gulf of Maine, but its numbers have dwindled off Cape Cod.
Read (New York Times)
Tiger moth caterpillars are seen medicating themselves to get rid of a nasty load of parasites.
Read (BBC)
Large swarms of birds have invaded parts of northern Nigeria, destroying grain farms and threatening harvests in a region bordering famine-stricken Niger, officials and farmers have said.
Read (WTOP)
The beloved American robin, not the annoying, raucous crow, may be the more potent source for West Nile virus, according to new research.
Read (WTOP)
The end of commercial whaling may have forced scavenging killer whales to turn on smaller prey, such as otters and seals, new research suggests.
Read (New Scientist)
Planting trees can create deserts, lower water tables and drain rivers, rather than filling them, claims a new report supported by the UK government.
Read (New Scientist)
The bald eagle population is soaring along the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, but now there’s concern that the majestic birds of prey may run out of places to live as development claims available habitat.
Read (Fredericksburg Free Lance Star(
Some 60 to 80 percent of birds die during their first year, a huge number of them during migration. To give young birds a fighting chance, the researchers are trying to discover where they take off, what land they use for emergency stops, and where they go for longer rest and refueling.
Read (Christian Science Monitor)