Wildfire changes songbird plumage and testosterone
Fire can put a tropical songbird's sex life on ice......»»
Study: Wildfire spread risk increases where trees, shrubs replace grasses
Across the United States over the past decade, an average of over 61,000 wildfires have burned some 7.2 million acres per year. Once a wildfire starts spreading, the firefighting task is exacerbated by issues like spot fires, where winds carry lofted.....»»
As Canada fights the Alberta and BC wildfires, it must also plan for future disasters
British Columbia and Alberta are on fire. Tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate in Alberta, while much of B.C. is already experiencing higher-than-usual wildfire risk. With more than 150 fires currently burning across the two provinces, a.....»»
Wildfire smoke from Australia fueled three-year “super La Niña”
How wildfire smoke from Australia affected climate events around the world. Enlarge / Wildfire smoke hovers over the Pacific coast of northern New South Wales, Australia in September 2019. (credit: Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sen.....»»
Testosterone in tusks: Hormones in mammoth fossils excite paleontologists
The technique could allow us to link mammoth health and nutrition to mating. Enlarge / Mammoth tusks collected at Wrangel Island, where some of the samples tested for hormones originated. (credit: Alexei Tikhonov) Musth,.....»»
New tusk-analysis techniques reveal surging testosterone in male woolly mammoths
Traces of sex hormones extracted from a woolly mammoth's tusk provide the first direct evidence that adult males experienced musth, a testosterone-driven episode of heightened aggression against rival males, according to a new University of Michigan-.....»»
What to know about red-flag warnings, an ominous wildfire forecast
The northeast U.S. is no stranger to extreme weather and the warnings that come with it. But every now and then, residents are faced with an unfamiliar color in the forecast: red......»»
New tool helps communities shore up their wildfire defenses
A new way to plan for wildfire is moving in the right direction, thanks to University of Alberta researchers......»»
Study: Mountain quail may benefit from high severity wildfire
Mountain Quail are an under-studied but recreationally-valued management indicator species in California's Sierra Nevada. They are notoriously difficult to study due to their penchant for impenetrable, dense, shrubby habitats, high elevations, and st.....»»
Wildfire and drainage accelerate carbon loss from northern peatlands, study finds
The harm caused to the Northern Hemisphere's peatlands as a result of wildfires could lead to greater quantities of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, a new study involving the University of Plymouth has warned......»»
HTC Continues to Push for a Comeback with its Newest Phone
The company has announced yet another entry-level device in the form of the HTC Wildfire E2 Play. Not too long ago, HTC made a surprise comeback of sorts after announcing the Wildfire E3 Lite, a budget-friendly smartphone. With that being s.....»»
Researchers make breakthrough in understanding the chemistry of wildfire smoke in wine
Oregon State University researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that contributes to the ashy or smoky flavors in wine made with grapes exposed to wildfire smoke......»»
A new HTC phone just made its debut
It has been a while since we’ve seen a HTC smartphone, but it looks like we have a new model in the mix in the form of the HTC Wildfire E3 Lite. HTC used to be one of the biggest smartphone brands back in the day, especially during the.....»»
Genetic secrets could help endangered songbird sing another day
Genetic data could be the key to helping the endangered forty-spotted pardalote on the road to recovery, according to a new study from The Australian National University (ANU). The paper is published in the journal Heredity......»»
Sexual selection: Why do females prefer ornate male signals?
Sexual selection provides an answer to the existence of lavishly ornate signals in animals, but not to the question of why such signals are attractive—for example, why do females prefer the extravagant plumage of peacocks? As part of an internation.....»»
Sulfur may be partly responsible for reddish feathers in barn owls on remote islands
A small team of environmental scientists from several institutions in Italy and Switzerland has found evidence suggesting that at least some of the red plumage sported by barn owls on small, isolated islands may be due to the ingestion of sulfur. In.....»»
Strong winds drive early Spain wildfire
Strong winds fanned the flames of Spain's first major fire of the year on Monday, complicating work for firefighters despite milder temperatures......»»
Spain mulls options as wildfires gain in size, intensity
Walking through the charred remains of the forested hillsides of Sierra de la Culebra that were devastated by Spain's worst wildfire last year, Pablo Martin Pinto is blunt......»»
Study: Smoke particles from wildfires can erode the ozone layer
A wildfire can pump smoke up into the stratosphere, where the particles drift for over a year. A new MIT study has found that while suspended there these particles can trigger chemical reactions that erode the protective ozone layer shielding the Ear.....»»
To help dry forests, fire needs to be just the right intensity, and happen more than once
Oregon State University research into the ability of a wildfire to improve the health of a forest uncovered a Goldilocks effect—unless a blaze falls in a narrow severity range, neither too hot nor too cold, it isn't very good at helping forest land.....»»
Long lost Madagascar songbird seen again in wild
Conservationists were celebrating Wednesday the first sightings in 24 years of the dusky tetraka, a yellow-throated songbird native to Madagascar for which ornithologists had feared the worst......»»