Earth Blog

There was once a turtle so large, they say it was the size of a Smart car and that if it had wanted it could have eaten a small crocodile.

That’s what paleontologists from North Carolina State University have concluded in a paper recently published about the discovery of 60 million year old fossil they call Carbonemys.

Why did the chicken cross the road? He was going to give you the answer but he didn’t think you were listening.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia are studying “avian expressiveness” and they think all those squawking birds may be trying to tell us something.

"Many poultry professionals swear they can walk into a grow-out house and tell whether a flock is happy or stressed just by listening to the birds vocalize," Wayne Daley, a  principal research scientist from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) told Rick Robinson from the school’s Research Horizons magazine. "The trouble is, it has proved hard for these pros to pinpoint for us exactly what it is that they're hearing."

What do soda and cigarettes have in common besides their ability to kill you? They both can alter the way your brain works.

There was a British study earlier this year that reported prospective memory loss in smokers and yesterday a UCLA study reported that a diet heavy with foods that contain fructose, specifically high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) like soda and practically everything else we like to eat- because it’s a preservative- can slow the brain. This slowing affects memory and the ability to learn but there is a way to lessen the damage.

Earlier this month thanks to the efforts of the USDA Forest Service, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Memphis Zoo officials were able to take seven Louisiana pine snakes, all six months old and about three feet long, into the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana for immediate release.

The snakes hadn’t slithered into homes via the plumbing or weren’t hanging around residential backyards terrorizing small dogs to have earned a one-way ticket back to the forest. Officials are hoping reintroduction will help restore the population to its natural range in the center of The Bayou State. Last year officials released twenty snakes as part of the initiative which hatches and raises the snakes in captivity from wild-caught snakes.

This week Mike Lee, an environmental reporter with the San Diego Union- Tribune, wrote an article that discussed the recent findings of a study about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” conducted by UCLA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

A rapid increase in the amount of plastic trash floating at sea has impacted the marine environment but not in the way you are thinking.

The ARC Centre for Excellence of Coral Reef Studies in Australia published a study in the latest issue of the journal Ecology that would like to remind us there are a bunch of little fish that make coral reefs happy and healthy. Despite our focus on higher profile marine animals that often tug on our heartstrings (sea turtles) or frighten us (sharks), the fish that provide basic maintenance deserve some credit.

"Herbivorous fishes protect coral reefs by limiting the growth of algae, or seaweed," says Loïc Thibaut, the lead researcher of this study. "Seaweeds grow rapidly and compete with corals for space. If left unchecked, they can smother the corals and take over the reefs. This shift, once it happens, is extremely difficult to reverse."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a study on PLoS ONE that presented findings that will help understand the affects of low-levels of domoic acid (DA) - a neurotoxic amino acid produced by marine algae- found in marine life like clams and mussels.

High-levels of DA can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans which has vastly different symptoms from paralytic shellfish poisoning. Amnesic shellfish poisoning can cause seizures, memory loss, and coma as opposed to abdominal pain and vomiting. Both forms can cause death but that is only in rare cases. Scientists don’t know what low-levels can do in humans over extended periods of time.

This week Greenpeace released their sixth seafood sustainability scorecard for grocery retailers. They have had their eye on the industry since 2008 and have released a report ranking twenty popular stores since then but Greenpeace has always had their eyes on marine life since its birth in 1971.

The scorecard is part of an ongoing project known as Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) where they not only rank retailers but examine conservation efforts,discuss better practices or habits retailers and consumers can do to protect marine ecosystems.

Today in news of frighteningly large and thankfully extinct creatures: a group of Chinese scientists found fossils in Mongolia of giant prehistoric “flea-like” insects that feasted on the blood of sleeping dinosaurs. The discovery was written up in a recent issue of the journal Current Biology.

These fleas were approximately ten times the size of the fleas we are familiar with today so they were about as big as a fly that’s not so bad right?  

Earlier this month Whole Foods Market announced the early implementation of a drastic change to their seafood departments: they would no longer sell “red-rated fish” or fish that are unsustainable. The new policy went into affect on Earth Day and there has been a bit of opposition.

Senator Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) sent a letter to the CEOs of Whole Foods asking them to reconsider the decision because their actions were going to hurt the New England fishing industry. Despite the outcry the store has moved forward with the policy and released a statement in defense of their actions.

There is another chain following Whole Foods’ lead: the Michigan-based Meijer also announced this month they are starting a “comprehensive seafood sustainability initiative” in their giant retail stores that sell everything from flip-flops to breakfast cereal.

Jaymi Heimbuch over at treehugger posted a little bit about her experience at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge where over 2 million seabirds live and the effects of the Pacific Garbage Patch are evident. The atoll might be remote but our plastic trash is still managing to ride the waves out to a part of the world most of us will never visit.

Heimbuch wanted to see firsthand what she had only seen on the Internet -the sad photographs of decomposing birds with the contents of their stomachs exposed.  Shards of plastic and even more identifiable objects like lighters, bottle caps, toothbrushes and fishing wire have all been found in birds that wash up on the island’s shore or die on the island.  That's why the Midway bird images are a poignant teaching tool: almost everyone that looks at the image can see something they have once used.

Considering all the advancements in science and technology it is amazing that there are some mysteries left in the world.

Biologists from the award-winning Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) Conservation Science have unraveled the exact route the Golden-crowned Sparrows that winter in California take to their Alaskan breeding grounds in the spring. A better understanding of their exact route will help protect and conserve the ecosystems where the sparrows live.  The entire study is available online at PLoS ONE.

Frank Lloyd Wright died 53 years ago today. That news is certainly not “breaking” but Wright was a groundbreaker and is widely recognized for his contributions in the field of architecture and interior design.

According to The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, founded by the architect himself in 1940,  409 out of 532 of his works are still standing which includes libraries, churches, museums and houses. His two personal homes Taliesin in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona are maintained by the Foundation and open for tours.  Twenty Wright houses are now open to the public and more than one-third of the buildings he designed are designated as historical landmarks or preserved in historical districts.

Wright was inspired by nature and this is evident in his designs. The “Prairie houses” and the highly-recognizable Fallingwater House in Pennsylvania are examples of Wright’s dedication to the school of thought he passed on to his students: "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.  It will never fail you."

The upcoming spring and summer could be tough or disappointing for New England shellfisheries. 

Research has predicted the potential for a moderate red tide in the Gulf of Maine.  Is it safe to go into the water? Yes. Swimming during red tide is safe but could cause irritation of the skin or eyes to people who are sensitive. It won’t be safe to eat shellfish, like clams or mussels, that are illegally harvested during the toxic algae bloom.

We have been following the Los Angeles City Council and their struggle to pass an ordinance banning single use plastic bags and charging a fee for paper bags for months now- since December to be precise.

Earlier this week during a three hour Energy & Environment Committee meeting the ban was revisited as the requested fiscal and community reports pertaining to a bag ban were given. This meeting also included a presentation of the proposed fiscal budget for the Department of Water and Power for the upcoming year by its commissioners.  

Over the weekend Whole Foods Market announced that they would be making a major change to their seafood departments. They are going to stop selling certain species of fish because they are unsustainable. This new policy comes a whole year before Whole Foods’ original deadline to begin the practice.

The change will start on April 22nd or Earth Day and it means there will no longer be red-rated, wild caught fish sold in their stores. Examples are: Atlantic halibut, grey sole, and skate. Instead customers will be directed to purchase fish that are similar but sustainable like Pacific halibut which is a Marine Steward Council (MSC)-certified fish. The MSC-certification is on any wild caught, sustainable fish that doesn’t have the color-coded label the store also uses.

The seafood departments stoplight colored rating system, which works well at a glance for quick decision making, was set forth in 2010 by Whole Foods and two non-profit organizations: Blue Ocean Institute and Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

Once upon a time a team of marine researchers from Nova Southern University Oceanographic Center (NSU-OC) found what appeared to be an endangered scalloped hammerhead shark living off the coast of the Eastern United States. Upon closer inspection they realized they were looking at a shark remarkably similar to the scalloped hammerhead but not the same species- a rarity!

When another shark, identical to the one previously found, was noticed off the coast of Southern Brazil over 4,300 miles away from the first one it was exciting but troubling news. This shark wasn’t as rare as previously thought and now instead of one species of endangered hammerhead shark hunted for their fins researchers were afraid they might be looking at two.

Spring is just around the corner with summer quickly following and the good weather associated with these two seasons is bound to drive people outside. Outside for all the fresh air (allergies), sun (burns), and bugs (bites) Mother Nature can conjure to make us wonder why we ever left the safe confines of our homes.

What can outdoor enthusiasts look forward to this year?  According to two new but separate studies: an uptick in Lyme Disease for the Northeast United States and a new threat known as Chagas disease for the entire country. But the potential spread of only of these diseases will be attributed to climate change.

George Constanza, a character from the popular 90‘s sitcom Seinfeld, once shouted: “We’re living in a society here!” during one of his famous rants. 

Chimpanzees would agree which is why they engage in impartial third-party conflict management or “policing.” The hierarchy observed amongst chimpanzees is used to maintain order and keep peace in the group. Peacekeeping may be even more important to the alpha chimpanzees than any personal gain from being in charge.

Primatologists from the University of Zurich, including the study’s lead author Claudia Rudolf von Rohr, studied four groups of chimpanzees living in zoos to bring us this study.

News of large four foot tall prehistoric penguins that have been named Kairuku penguins by researchers who spent 35 years recreating them from fossils found in New Zealand is delighting folks on the Internet.

Not to be outdone by some ancient, tuxedo-wearing, waddling birds whose predecessors would influence the creation of DC comics villain The Penguin,  Universal’s Chilly Willy,  and Sanrio’s Tuxedo Sam, another set of researchers from North Carolina studied coyote fossils and found Ice Age coyotes were a bit fatter than today’s coyotes. Giant Penguins? Fat coyotes! Google Fight!