Ari Phillips, Author at Gizmodo

Report: One Third of America’s Wildlife Is Now Under Threat

On Thursday, the National Wildlife Federation, the American Fisheries Society, and The Wildlife Society released a report finding that up to a third of America’s wildlife species are vulnerable because of human activity. A fifth of all U.S. species are “imperiled and at high risk of extinction.” It sounds dire, but there are also solutions…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 29

Everything Is Going Wrong for North Atlantic Right Whales This Year [Updated]

North Atlantic right whales are living the plot of a science fiction story: They are not having any babies. With the end of the winter calving season just around the corner, so far zero newborns have been spotted. With fewer than 450 of the whales remaining, and around 100 breeding females, this reproductive drought is…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 28

Orange Snow Turns Europe Into a Martian Landscape [Updated]

The fact that snow is white seems like a pretty basic truth. But over the weekend in parts of eastern Europe, the snow turned orange. According to the BBC, the apocalyptic tint is the result of Saharan sand mixing with snow, rain, dust, and pollen. While these colorful snowfalls typically occur every five years or…

Earth Science Ari Phillips Mar 26

Now There’s a Starbucks in Yosemite Because Nothing Is Sacred

You could be excused for believing there’s no new ground for Starbucks to break in the U.S. The Seattle-based coffee chain has around 14,000 outlets spread across the country. Sadly, you are wrong. You just need to open your mind, and start imagining coffee shops in places more known for their extraordinary natural beauty than…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 26

Idaho Wants to Allow the Hunting of a Single Grizzly Bear

For grizzly bears, leaving national park boundaries could soon be a life-or-death decision. The states surrounding Yellowstone National Park are considering initiating grizzly bear hunts for the first time in decades after the Trump administration removed Endangered Species Act protections for the bears last summer. In Idaho, where the state’s Fish and Game Commission voted…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 23

New Zealand Just Exterminated 200,000 Mice From a Single Island [Updated]

It’s not often conservationists celebrate the mass killing of animals, but managing our relationship with nature these days requires creative, and often compromising, solutions. Such is the case in New Zealand, where leaders are determined to get rid of all rats, possums, stoats, and other invasive predators by 2050. A major step towards this goal…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 22

Palm Trees Are Moving North

Washington, D.C. is famous for its cherry blossoms, but someday it could also be renowned for its palm trees. That’s according to a new study looking at how palm trees are expanding into northern parts of the world that have long been too cold for the iconic tropical trees. There are over 2,500 species of…

Climate Change Ari Phillips Mar 20

The Last Male Northern White Rhino Is Dead

Death did not sneak up on Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, who was put to sleep on Monday after a months-long battle with a number of health complications. He was 45, and there will never be another animal quite like him. Sudan lived out much of his later life at the Ol Pejeta…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 20

These Are the Worst Invasive Species in the West [Updated]

The Western Governors’ Association published its first-ever list of the 50 worst invasive species inhabiting that region of the country on Thursday, and some of the culprits may surprise you. Meant to help better address regional risks and aid people recognizing and eradicating invaders early on, the list includes 25 terrestrial and 25 aquatic species.…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 16

Stephen Hawking Was Terrified of Climate Change

Stephen Hawking, renowned theoretical physicist and one of the brightest scientific minds of the last half century, died at age 76 this week. In a career spanning 50 years—and challenged by a crippling disease—Hawking set his mind to understanding the Universe. After decades of investigating everything from black holes to the Big Bang, he recently…

Climate Change Ari Phillips Mar 14

We’re Building Millions of Homes in the Line of Wildfires

Last year was a very bad year for wildfire damage across the U.S., and it’s only going to get worse. One way to counteract this increasing danger is to build smarter. A new study shows just how bad the problem has gotten, and suggests building smarter means being more intentional about where we build. While…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 13

The Way This Dutch Designer Dealt With Light Pollution Is Ingenious

The Afsluitdijk is a 20-mile dam that has been protecting the low-lying Netherlands from the force of the ocean for decades. According to Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch artist who works in urban environments, it’s quite famous in the country because “basically, it protects us from drowning.” Roosegaarde recently installed the “Gates on Light” on 60…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 13

Why I Will Never Run and Pick Up Trash

There’s a new trend sweeping the nation—the world actually—and it’s called plogging. No, not blogging on platforms (that “plogging” came and went three years ago) but running while picking up trash. Plogging comes from the Swedish phrase “plocka upp,” which means to pick up, and publications from The Washington Post to Men’s Health are picking…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 12

In Japan, It’s ‘Super Monster Wolf’ Versus Wild Boars [Updated]

Only in Japan would the solution to an ecological problem involve a robotic wolf. But when that problem is the proliferation of wild boars, the furry, fanged, red-eyed “Super Monster Wolf” might actually do the trick. After being used on a trial basis last summer, the wolf—which starts to howl when an animal is determined…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 9

Tech Companies Are Finally Becoming Aware of Their Wildlife Trafficking Problem

Illegal wildlife trafficking tends to evoke images of harshly lit ports and dingy warehouses, but in reality a lot of it takes place in front of a screen. For those dealing in the illicit trade of rhino horns or pangolin scales, the anonymity and global reach of the internet are obvious draws. A new international…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 8

The Trump Administration Can’t Seem to Stop the Climate Kids’ Lawsuit [Updated]

It’s not often you celebrate going to court, but 21 kids are doing just that after a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to halt a landmark climate change lawsuit on Wednesday. https://gizmodo.com/those-kids-suing-for-climate-action-might-soon-get-thei-1821218998 First brought in 2015 in Oregon, the lawsuit asserts that the government has violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by failing…

Environmental Justice Ari Phillips Mar 8

Dangerous Heat Is Coming to Cities Very Soon

Fleeing the sweltering, cement jungles of many urban centers during the dog days of summer is going to become even more critical in coming years as temperatures continue to rise. According to a new report from the Urban Climate Change Research Network, based at Columbia University, average annual temperatures in 100 cities around the world…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 7

What We Can Learn From the Demise of the Northern White Rhino [Updated]

The health of the world’s last male northern white rhino, Sudan, is rapidly declining, bringing the subspecies’ inevitable extinction closer to a reality. Even as scientists and conservationists work on an ambitious in vitro fertilization effort, there’s little reason for hope that the 45-year-old Sudan and his two female companions—the last of the entire subspecies—will…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 6

The Bee(tle)s Are Dying at an Alarming Rate

Beetles that depend on dead or decaying wood, often with weighty frames and photogenic jaws—called saproxylic beetles—are fascinating insects, and often kids’ favorites (think stag beetles). According to a new report, they are also some of the most threatened, with nearly one-fifth of Europe’s saproxylic beetles at risk of extinction due to major declines in old…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 5

Why It’s a Big Deal That Washington State Almost Passed a Carbon Tax

Washington state just came within a few votes of passing the first statewide carbon tax in the country, a near accomplishment that’s both disappointing and promising. On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee, a longtime champion of climate action, acknowledged the bill was still “one or two votes shy” of being able to pass out of the…

Conservation Ari Phillips Mar 2

Ari Phillips

Report: One Third of America’s Wildlife Is Now Under Threat

Everything Is Going Wrong for North Atlantic Right Whales This Year [Updated]

Orange Snow Turns Europe Into a Martian Landscape [Updated]

Now There’s a Starbucks in Yosemite Because Nothing Is Sacred

Idaho Wants to Allow the Hunting of a Single Grizzly Bear

New Zealand Just Exterminated 200,000 Mice From a Single Island [Updated]

Palm Trees Are Moving North

The Last Male Northern White Rhino Is Dead

These Are the Worst Invasive Species in the West [Updated]

Stephen Hawking Was Terrified of Climate Change

We’re Building Millions of Homes in the Line of Wildfires

The Way This Dutch Designer Dealt With Light Pollution Is Ingenious

Why I Will Never Run and Pick Up Trash

In Japan, It’s ‘Super Monster Wolf’ Versus Wild Boars [Updated]

Tech Companies Are Finally Becoming Aware of Their Wildlife Trafficking Problem

The Trump Administration Can’t Seem to Stop the Climate Kids’ Lawsuit [Updated]

Dangerous Heat Is Coming to Cities Very Soon

What We Can Learn From the Demise of the Northern White Rhino [Updated]

The Bee(tle)s Are Dying at an Alarming Rate

Why It’s a Big Deal That Washington State Almost Passed a Carbon Tax

Anthropic’s New Model Is So Scarily Powerful It Won’t Be Released, Anthropic Says

Musk Asks Court to Give Potential Winnings in OpenAI Suit to OpenAI’s Nonprofit

Pro-Iran Hackers Target Critical U.S. Energy and Water Infrastructure

‘She-Hulk’ Was Apparently One of Marvel’s Most Successful Shows

The World’s First Eye-Tracking Smart Glasses Are Intriguing and Unpolished

Noah Hawley Is Remaking ‘Terrified,’ Which Shouldn’t Happen

Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral

This Apple MacBook Pro Is Now Under $500 After 78% Off, Grade-A Refurb Deal (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Touch Bar)

Anthropic Launches ‘Project Glasswing’ to Stealthily Spot Cybersecurity Issues for Rivals

Tiny Robots Reveal Hidden Ocean Chemistry in Low-Oxygen Waters

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback