Near my house someone left a piece of previously cultivated field undisturbed this year. Such a delight for me! Current flora and direction of ecological succesion of this small piece of ground is very interesting to observe. I even spotted 2 plant species that I hadn't seen before irl. And so many butterflies and other bugs! There is much higher entomodiveristy bc of current stage of succesion that resembles dry meadow/xerothermic grassland. I could just sit there for hours and observe this cuties tbh
How a UK river serves as a natural lab for flood defence research.
A river near Edinburgh in Scotland has served for more than a decade as a natural laboratory for studying flood defences, providing benefits such as improved water quality worth millions.
“Models are great and all, but it’s only with real-world data that you get a full understanding of all the various factors that can affect these results.”
It's what happens when the vendor sends you a small replacement part (per warranty) in a large box, and uses this as an opportunity to get rid of some production waste for free.
Sustainable till death do us part, and 45 days beyond; mushroom coffin a last best wish for some
And while traditional wooden coffins come from trees that can take decades to grow and years to break down in the soil, the mushroom versions biodegrades and delivers the remains to nature in barely a month and a half
Fly fact of the day: Some adult flies produce silk.
Silk is a very common protein fiber to produce, shared by a lot of arthropods, so I'm not so surprised when I learn of another insect that can produce it.
But still, it's pretty cool.
Some male flies in family Empidae wrap gifts for females in silk produced in their legs.
The more you know! #insects#entomology#flies#ecology#silk
Aaaah my main PhD paper has just been published! 🥳
Wild carrion crows in London and Milton Keynes listen and respond to speech out of their own motivation, but unlike the crows in Tokyo they didn't respond more to the foreign language than the local language 🐦
in theory, extractive industries clean up when they're done with a particular place. in practice, when they're done sucking up the resources, they abandon equipment & leave poison ponds & huge dangerous holes in the ground.
they just abandon it!! and if you want it to not be a poison hole forever, usually it's the gov that pays. IF someone pushes VERY hard for it, for many years, usually with lawsuits.
Climate change is here, but your child likely isn't learning much about it at school
More than half of adults see climate change as a major threat to the country’s well-being, but most states don’t require children to learn about it in school.
New Jersey, Oregon, Connecticut and California feature climate topics or environmental education in their curriculum, but that isn’t the norm
Happy #BiodiversityDay! From our archives, Mrunali Sundar speaks to Bangalureans who are passionate about opening their children's eyes to the blossoming biodiversity in the city and beyond:
#ForestForensics: do you know this #plant? it's growing in a tropical wet climate on hawai'i island. (hawai'i people & other people in the pacific probably know.)
Loved seeing this last night - bats on the radar as they head out for their evening meals. How many circles of bats emerging can you count? (Attachment is a video of weather radar of the #CentralTexas area, showing many expanding circles around areas where bats roost during the day.) #Texas#Austin#bats#radar#nature#ecology