These Parrots Can Make Other Parrots 'Laugh' — a First

Forget the laughing kookaburra—kea are the birds that really tickle each other's funny bones. The highly intelligent parrot has a specific call, that—like human laughter—puts other parrots that hear it in a good mood. This makes the kea the first known non-mammal to show contagious emotion, joining the ranks of humans, rats, and chimpanzees.

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Germany Converts Coal Mine Into Giant Battery Storage for Surplus Solar and Wind Power

Germany is embarking on an innovative project to turn a hard coal mine into a giant battery that can store surplus solar and wind energy and release it when supplies are lean. The Prosper-Haniel coal mine in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia will be converted into a 200 megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoir that acts like a giant battery. The capacity is enough to power more than 400,000 homes, Governor Hannelore Kraft said, according to Bloomberg.

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World Water Day: one in four children will live with water scarcity by 2040

Unicef report says climate change and conflict are intensifying risks to children of living without enough water, and that the poorest will suffer most.

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Americans Ate 19% Less Beef From ’05 to ’14, Report Says

The National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said lower demand reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

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Record-breaking climate change pushes world into ‘uncharted territory’

The record-breaking heat that made 2016 the hottest year ever recorded has continued into 2017, pushing the world into “truly uncharted territory”, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. The WMO’s assessment of the climate in 2016, published on Tuesday, reports unprecedented heat across the globe, exceptionally low ice at both poles and surging sea-level rise.

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How do cuckoos know they are cuckoos?

How do the chicks of birds that use other birds to raise their young, such as cuckoos and koels know that they are cuckoos or koels and not the other type of bird?

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Peak oil? Sooner than you think

Once peak oil is finally reached – whenever that is – demand will begin to drop thereafter, perhaps precipitously.

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