Scientists have been surprised and impressed with the long-distance travel of two birds recently, a common cuckoo who flew from southern Africa to Mongolia, and an eastern curlew, who flew from Australia to China.
Published in “Environment”
Scientists have discovered that massive amounts of microplastics are falling into remote areas in protected US national parks every year. The tiny bits of plastic are carried there by winds and rains.
Saniniu Laizer, who works as a miner in Tanzania, has suddenly become a millionaire after finding and selling two large chunks of a gemstone called Tanzanite. The stones found by Mr. Laizer were the largest samples of Tanzanite ever found.
A Hood Island giant tortoise named Diego has returned to his home island in the Galapagos after becoming the father of up to 800 tortoises. Diego's efforts have helped raise the number of Hood Island tortoises from 15 to nearly 2,000.
For the first time in over 135 years, the United States got more energy from renewable sources like solar, wind, and water energy, than it did from coal. That's a big change, and it may be the beginning of the end for coal.
Scientists are struggling to understand the movements of glacier mice - round balls of moss that appear on icy glaciers. Somehow, the glacier mice manage to travel together in ways that scientists still can't explain.
Among the more unusual news stories recently…Hong Kong passes a law protecting China's national anthem, the last person to get a pension from the US Civil War dies, and a sudden landslide in Norway sweeps eight houses into the sea.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in part of Siberia following a massive oil spill at a power plant last week. The slow response to the spill has created a serious environmental problem.
As the coronavirus has limited the movements of tourists and park rangers, African elephants and rhinos are being killed in greater numbers. Now, with money from tourists drying up, it's even harder for governments to protect the animals.
Huge swarms of locusts are attacking farms and fields in northwest India. Billions of the insects are moving through Rajasthan toward central India, destroying crops in the worst locust invasion in over 25 years.
Though most people are aware that bees play an important part in the life cycle of many plants, moths, which are active at night, don't get the same attention. A recent study suggests that moths might be just as important.