The Deepwater Horizon Aftermath

The oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) rig in 2010 contaminated more than 1,000 square miles of seafloor. The complexity of the event has made it difficult for scientists to determine the long-term fate of oil in this ocean environment. But researchers from UC Santa Barbara, with colleagues from three other institutions, are making progress.

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The most popular books at US public libraries in 2016, mapped by city

Hollywood has been good to Paula Hawkins. Following the release of a movie adapted from her novel, "The Girl on the Train," the book has become one of the most widely read books at US libraries this year. A survey of 14 metropolitan libraries by Quartz shows that "The Girl on the Train" is the most checked-out book at eight of them, and the most checked-out work of fiction at 11.

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High Demand, Low Supply: Colorado River Water Crisis Hits Across The West

The Colorado River is like a giant bank account for seven different states. Now it's running short. For decades, the river has fed growing cities from Denver to Los Angeles. A lot of the produce in supermarkets across the country was grown with Colorado River water. But with climate change, and severe drought, the river is reaching a crisis point, and communities at each end of it are reacting very differently.

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Californians Not Liable For Saving Animals Trapped In Hot Cars

A new law in 2017 could help save animals trapped in hot unattended vehicles. Californians won’t have to worry about being sued or arrested for breaking into a hot unattended car to rescue an animal under a new law taking effect in 2017. It takes just 10 minutes on an 80 degree day for temperatures inside a car to reach 120 degrees. Most people say if they saw a distressed animal trapped inside a parked car on a hot day they would take action to save it.

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As Groundwater Dwindles, a Global Food Shock Looms

By mid-century, says a new study, some of the biggest grain-producing regions could run dry. By Cheryl Katz.

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Hedgehogs Hold the Secret to Preventing Concussions

If you ever find yourself watching hedgehog go about its day, you’ll notice that they tend to fall out of trees — a lot. Wild hedgehogs climb trees as high as 30 feet, looking for insects and food to eat. Sometimes they fall by accident, other times they fall on purpose to evade a predator or because falling is a lot faster than climbing down.

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Girl denied a horse is udderly charmed by bareback cow jumping instead

When 11-year-old Hannah Simpson was told she couldn’t have a horse because it was too expensive, she decided to jump on the next best thing instead – a dairy cow. Now 18, Simpson and her seven-year-old Swiss Brown “best friend” Lilac have become a regular sight on their daily rides on the outskirts of the South Island town of Invercargill, in New Zealand’s deep south.

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China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

China announces a ban on all ivory trade and processing activities by the end of 2017.

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Edible Plants In The Wild

While there are many delicacies in the modernised world that we are living in. Have we ever stop to wonder what if we are in the wild and there are no cafes nearby to ease our hunger pangs? Would it be helpful to be aware of what could be found and eaten in Mother Nature? Just sharing this helpful article around..

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Massive object frozen under Antarctica

SCIENTISTS believe a massive object which could change our understanding of history is hidden beneath the Antarctic ice. The Sun reports the huge and mysterious “anomaly” is thought to be lurking beneath the frozen wastes of an area called Wilkes Land. It stretches for a distance of 151 miles across and has a maximum depth of about 848 metres. Some researchers believe it is the remains of a truly massive asteroid which was more than twice the size of the Chicxulub space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs.

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Will We Miss Our Last Chance to Save the World From Climate Change?

Will We Miss Our Last Chance to Save the World From Climate Change? By Jeff Goodell, with James Hansen.

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Madrid bans half of cars from roads to fight air pollution

Odd- and even-numbered vehicles will swap use of roads in Spanish capital until smog eases

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How Smart Is an Octopus?

A scuba-diving philosopher explores invertebrate intelligence and consciousness.

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Anthrax in the Arctic

Why wolves are the least of a reindeer’s worries this Christmas. By India Bourke.

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Gift of the fungi: Mushrooms — yes, mushrooms — could help save the world

What can't mushrooms do? From cleaning chemical spills to mitigating topsoil loss, they're nature's unsung heroes. By Samuel Blackstone.

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The Amazing Cuddlefish.

Despite their name, cuttlefish aren’t fish. But unlike almost all fish, a cuttlefish can cuddle.

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Tibetan Plateau Discovery Shows Humans May Be Tougher than We Thought

Converging genetic and archaeological evidence hints that early migrants clung to the frigid, oxygen-starved “roof of the world” through the worst the climate could throw at them. By Jane Qiu.

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Birds migrating earlier as temperatures rise

Migrating birds are arriving at their breeding grounds earlier as global temperatures rise, an Edinburgh University study finds.

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See the Nighttime Acrobatics of Montana’s Flying Squirrels

Wintertime in a remote Montana forest heralds the arrival of mating season for the flying squirrel—and one of nature’s most spectacular air shows. By Alexander V. Badyaev and BioGraphic.

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People who don't have children benefit our environment more than any campaign

The global population is growing rapidly, while the resources we depend on to live are dwindling. If you consider the footprint each person makes on the world – in terms of food and water consumed, electricity and gas used, and waste produced – the challenge of improving living standards while protecting natural resources and the environment is striking. The question of human population size is fundamentally one of sustainability, and in that so is the choice to have children.

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China Announces Its Largest-Ever Seizure Of Trafficked Pangolin Scales

Chinese officials have seized 3.1 tonnes (more than 3.4 tons) of illegally trafficked pangolin scales from a port in Shanghai, according to state media. It's the largest such seizure China has ever made, Xinhua News Agency reports. Pangolins are the world's most widely trafficked mammals — their meat is a delicacy and their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

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Apes can guess what others are thinking - just like humans, study finds

Research indicates apes are able to predict one another’s beliefs and suggests that other primates have complex inner lives

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Series of Earthquakes Hits Near California-Nevada Border

A series of moderate earthquakes rocked the Nevada-California border, shaking residents in both states but producing no reports of major damage or injury.

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What you can find Mudlarking on the Thames Foreshore in London

Throughout early modern times, the Thames was essentially a massive garbage dump where people and its industries threw away their unwanted items.

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Cheetahs Heading Towards Extinction as Population Crashes

A new study estimates there are just 7,100 now left in the wild as they face growing conflict with humans.

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Australia flood: Six missing Following Record Rainfall

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) described it as a twice-a-century weather event, creating waterfalls all over Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, a site sacred to indigenous people at the heart of the park in neighbouring Northern Territory.

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'Cloud fishing' reels in precious water for villagers in rural Morocco

“Everyone was leaving the village where I grew up, and it was all because of water,” says Jamila Bargach, whose village in rural Morocco has steadily emptied of people amid severe water stress. As in most of rural Morocco, climate change and population pressures have led to more unpredictable rainfall patterns and the depletion of natural water sources, such as underground aquifers, in the area around the village of Taloust. Situated in the country’s south-west Sidi Ifni region, close to the coast, the area is extremely arid as it borders the northern Sahara desert. Average annual precipitation is less than 130mm.

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The Wintry Elegance of Hasui Kawase’s Woodblock Prints

Hasui Kawase (1883-1957) was a prominent landscape artist in 20th century Japan who travelled extensively throughout the Western regions of the country. Known for his poetic renderings of snow, rains and moonlight, he created elegant prints of Kyoto temples covered in snow, as well as dark and quiet landscapes.

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The world is much better than it seems

Who wouldn’t be depressed about the world today? Donald Trump! Islamic State! Oil slump! Mass shootings! Global warming! Everywhere you look, it’s doom and gloom. So, turn off the news and consider this. For most of humanity, life is improving at an accelerated rate. Most people find this hard to believe – after all, we’re programmed to look for trouble. Here are some reasons to start the new year on an optimistic note...

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CBS Christmas Message (1966)

R.O. Blechman

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Baby deer doing well after being found by Labrador

A baby deer taken to an animal shelter after being found by a dog in woodland is making a good recovery, a vet said. Labrador Jess surprised her owners by carrying the fawn into their home near Wymondham, Norfolk, on 9 December. It was taken in by Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, near Norwich and staff there have named it Tinsel. The charity's vet, Chris Lehrbach, said: "I think it's a very lucky deer as it certainly wouldn't have survived the night on its own."

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Why bees could be the secret to superhuman intelligence

A tool inspired by swarming insects is helping people predict the future - making groups of people smarter than their members are by themselves. By Simon Oxenham.

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Ash Tree Genome Sequenced for First Time

UK scientists have decoded the genome of the ash in the fight against a devastating plant disease.

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Bare-root plants: the gardener's antidote to festive overload

Bare root plants may look boring, but that bundle of twigs is full of potential, writes Tom Smart.

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A Bigger Problem Than ISIS?

The Mosul Dam is failing. A breach would cause a colossal wave that could kill as many as a million and a half people.

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In American Towns, Private Profits From Public Works

Desperate towns have turned to private equity firms to manage their waterworks. The deals bring much-needed upgrades, but can carry hefty price tags. By Danielle Ivory, Ben Protess and Griff Palmer.

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Piers Sellers, Space Shuttle Astronaut and NASA Climate Scientist, Dies at 61

Piers Sellers, a British-born climate scientist and NASA astronaut who launched on three space shuttle missions, died on Friday (Dec. 23). He was 61. By Robert Z. Pearlman.

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Court Rules Police Can Shoot Your Dog If It “Moves” Or “Barks”

A ruling from the 6th Circuit Court serves as a warning to dog owners: Teach your dog to sit still and be quiet or risk police justifiably shooting the dog. Mark and Cheryl Brown petitioned their local court to hold the city as well as police officers from Battle Creek, Michigan, accountable for killing their dogs during the execution of a search warrant of their home. The search warrant was to look for evidence of drugs, and the dogs never attacked the officers.

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Blizzard conditions in parts of US make travel 'very dangerous if not impossible'

It’ll be a white but slick and messy Christmas for the northern plains and some western states. Most of the Dakotas and south-west Minnesota were turning into an “icy, slippery mess” due to freezing rain Sunday morning that was expected change into snow later in the day when temperatures fell, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Gust in Grand Forks, North Dakota. His advice to holiday travelers: “Stay put.”

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Chile Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Warning

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off southern Chile prompts a tsunami warning.

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Philippines Braces for Super Typhoon on Christmas Day

US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center says Nock-Ten is super typhoon with winds of up to 240 kph (150 mph) late Christmas Eve local time (1200 GMT), though it was expected to weaken before landfall

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This 509-year-old map contains the first known use of the word 'America' — but not where you may think

In April 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published his Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes, or The Universal Cosmography according to the Tradition of Ptolemy and the Discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci and others. It was the first known map to feature parts of the New World labeled “America,” derived from the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name.

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'Ant-like' bees among new desert species identified by USU entomologist

Though declines in bee populations have heightened awareness of the importance of pollinating insects to the world's food supply, numerous bee species remain undescribed or poorly understood. Utah State University entomologist Zach Portman studies a diverse group of solitary, desert bees that aren't major pollinators of agricultural crops, but fill an important role in natural ecosystems of the American Southwest, including the sizzling sand dunes of California's Death Valley.

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How ant societies point to radical possibilities for humans

The ant colony has often served as a metaphor for human order and hierarchy. But real ant society is radical to its core.

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France officially opens world's first solar panel road

France’s Minister of Environment Ségolène Royal has officially opened the world’s first solar road this week with one kilometer and 2,880 solar panels in Tourouvre-au-Perche. Now the country is waiting to see if the road, built with construction company Colas‘ Wattway technology, will live up to the hype surrounding the clean energy experiment. The road is designed to produce sufficient power to electrify street lighting in the 3,400-person village.

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Solar Power Is Now the Cheapest Form of Energy in Almost 60 Countries

It's official: solar became the cheapest source of new energy in lower-income countries this year, giving both companies and governments alike another reason to ditch coal and gas for renewables. Data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that the average price of solar energy in almost 60 countries dropped to US$1.65 million per megawatt during 2016, just below wind at US$1.66 million per megawatt.

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Ammonia Detected in Earth's Atmosphere for First Time

In an unexpected first, researchers have discovered ammonia in Earth's lowest atmospheric layer, a new study said. The detected ammonia was most concentrated in the upper layer of the troposphere above India and China, countries that have experienced population and economic booms in recent years. The gas (NH3) is most likely coming from livestock farming and fertilization in those countries, the researchers said.

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Why Nestle pays next to nothing for Michigan groundwater

To say that Michigan is an ideal state in which to operate a bottled water factory is something of an understatement. Nestle Waters North America, the world's largest bottled water company, shipped the first bottle from its Ice Mountain plant in Stanwood in May 2002. Since then, the company has extracted billions of gallons of groundwater from underneath Michigan and has paid next to nothing for it.

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Zimbabwe ships live elephants to wildlife parks in China

More than 30 wild elephants were being readied on Friday evening for an airlift from Zimbabwe to captivity in China, according to wildlife advocates. The founder of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Johnny Rodrigues, said on Friday that their plane was still at Victoria Falls airport because officials could not find scales big enough to weigh the animals, which were confined inside heavy crates. But once that was accomplished, he added, “they’re gone”.

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Furiosa’s Cat Feeder

The trick is to be smarter than the animal with a brain the size of a walnut.

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