What it"s like counting 528,000 albatross nests on Midway islands
Nancy Caruso sat on an island in the North Pacific Ocean just inches from an albatross and watched as the large black-and-white sea bird with a 12-foot wingspan added grass to its nest to cover up a precious 4-inch white egg......»»
Swimming and spinning aquatic spiders use slick survival strategies
Some make nests inside seashells, others tote bubbles of air on their backs. Enlarge / Of all the aquatic spiders, the diving bell spider is the only one known to survive almost entirely underwater, using bubbles of air it bring.....»»
Shoreline model predicts long-term future of storm protection and sea-level rise
Researchers in North Carolina have created a simulation model to analyze how coastal management activities meant to protect barrier islands from sea-level rise can disrupt the natural processes that are keeping barrier islands above water......»»
Same species, different sizes: Rare evolution in action spotted in island bats
A University of Melbourne researcher has spotted a rare evolutionary phenomenon happening rapidly in real time in bats living in the Solomon Islands......»»
Whales and dolphins now have legal personhood in the Pacific—but one treaty won"t be enough to protect them
Whales and dolphins have been officially recognized as "legal persons" in a new treaty formed by Pacific Indigenous leaders from the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Tonga......»»
Aboriginal people made pottery, sailed to distant islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived
Pottery was largely unknown in Australia before the recent past, despite well-known pottery traditions in nearby Papua New Guinea and the islands of the western Pacific. The absence of ancient Indigenous pottery in Australia has long puzzled research.....»»
Column: When counting auto sales becomes almost as hard as autonomy
Mercedes-Benz USA is the latest automaker to buck traditional sales reporting, making the nation's retail market even more opaque......»»
Researchers discover the secret of how termites build their giant nests
Termites are the architects of the natural world. The nests that they build can reach meters of height, with complex and elaborate structures, galleries that ensure efficient communication and that automatically ventilate the nest interior in a way t.....»»
Exclusive: Beats Solo4 headphones will pack USB-C, re-engineered sound, and 50 hour battery for $199
Update: We’re told May 2 is the release date for Beats Solo4 headphones. Early May sounds busy. No word on when this guy makes a come back. It’s been a few days since Apple announced new Beats Solo headphones. 2,764 days and counting to b.....»»
An on-chip photon-counting reconstructive spectrometer with tailored cascaded detector array
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have been widely used in various applications requiring single photon detection thanks to their attractive performances. Since SNSPDs are thin films of serval nanometers in thickness, they are.....»»
Artificial reef designed by engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage
The beautiful, gnarled, nooked-and-crannied reefs that surround tropical islands serve as a marine refuge and natural buffer against stormy seas. But as the effects of climate change bleach and break down coral reefs around the world, and extreme wea.....»»
The key to Florida beaches" hurricane recovery: The humble sea oat
From eye level, the wisps of green emerging from sand dunes up and down Pinellas County's barrier islands look sparse, stubby, almost tentative as they peek at the sun. Below the surface, though, they are spreading out, trapping sand in place and act.....»»
Wordle is 1,000 — these are the 50 hardest games so far
Counting down the most difficult Wordles in the game's first 1,000 days......»»
Digital nomads: A benefit or burden for local communities?
Many criticize digital nomads for fueling gentrification and pricing out locals. Social, economic, spatial and cultural segregation between nomads and local communities has already stirred controversy from Canada to the Canary Islands......»»
The US Buried Nuclear Waste Abroad. Climate Change Could Unearth It
A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from US nuclear projects in Greenland and the Marshall Islands......»»
Billionaires are building bunkers and buying islands—are they prepping for apocalypse or pioneering a new feudalism?
In December 2023, WIRED reported that Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta and one of the foremost architects of today's social-media-dominated world, has been buying up large swathes of the Hawaiian island Kauai......»»
Secrets in the canopy: Scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific
After a decade searching for new species of bees in forests of the Pacific Islands, all we had to do was look up......»»
Counting rays: Aerial surveys reveal ample populations in southeast Florida
The whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) and the giant manta ray (Mobula birostris) are rapidly declining globally. Both species are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered worldwide, and the giant manta.....»»
First reports of severe coral bleaching this summer as the Great Barrier Reef warms up
As ocean temperatures continue to warm over the Great Barrier Reef this summer, James Cook University scientists have reported areas of moderate to severe coral bleaching around the Keppel Islands offshore from Rockhampton......»»
Mapping out a novel way to assess the effectiveness of development aid
Assessing the effectiveness of international aid across Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country and an archipelago of around 17,000 islands, is no easy task. But that has not deterred Singapore Management University Assistant Professor of.....»»
A new tool can help protect California and Nevada communities from floods while preserving their water supply
At the dawn of the new year in 1997, the Truckee River transformed. The winter season had thus far been great for snow, but when a subtropical storm from near the Hawaiian Islands rolled in, it carried with it unseasonably warm rain. The warm rainfal.....»»