Ecology

End the prejudice against non-native species! Embrace the new nature.

Gardners and biologists often grumble about the ways non-native animals and plants have invaded a region, spoiling things for all the locals. Sometimes a non-native species can destroy an ecosystem — a common example is the introduction of rabbits to Australia, where they have no native predators. Sometimes, however, they are far more beneficial than…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jun 9

The first accurate map of how green the Earth really is

This is the first map ever produced that shows the global output of plant fluorescence. That means you’re seeing the most realistic representation of healthy plant life across the entire face of the Earth. This map is also a reminder of just how green our planet still is. As part of their natural life cycle,…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jun 7

The days of “Easy Oil” are over

The major oil fields in the Gulf region have pumped more than half their oil, which is the point at which production usually begins to decline, one expert tells the Wall Street Journal. “The easy oil is coming to an end,” says Alex Munton, a Middle East analyst for the Scottish energy consulting firm Wood…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 24

Sea squirts could hold the secret to human immortality

Sea squirts might not look like much…they’re simple, hermaphroditic creatures that barely even have a brain. But they have a particular knack for activating the enzyme telomerase, which protects DNA from degradation. That unexpected talent could help fight human aging. Although these simple organisms only live about six months to a year, the basic mechanisms…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 26

You could soon be dining on diapers

Now that the human race has been spewing out trash for a good long time, we need to figure out what to do with it. When it comes to diapers, the best recycling policy may be to chow down, with a little help from mushrooms. The population of the world is hitting seven billion in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 26

If giant squid monsters ever attack, we can defend ourselves with sound

A depressing study shows that military and industrial noise may be killing off cephalopods. On the bright side, at last we have a way to fight squid-like monsters. In real life, squid don’t do much except provide us with calamari and look disgusting when they’re shown mating on nature shows. But in fiction, they’ve attacked…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 14

It took a few dozen people, including Special Forces soldiers, to capture this sacred giant turtle

This massive turtle, weighing 440 pounds, was pulled out of Hanoi’s Ho Hoan Kiem, or Lake of the Returned Sword, by a few dozen people, including Special Forces soldiers, using three nets. Vietnamese legend has it that a giant turtle in that same lake — possibly the exact same turtle — retrieved a magic sword…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Apr 4

Arctic ozone levels dropped by as much as half in the past year

Check out the stark difference between these two satellite images, taken on March 19, 2010 and March 19, 2011. The left image shows much more ozone (in red) over the Arctic than the right image. What’s happened? These maps come from NASA’s Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), aboard the Aura satellite. The two images tell a…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Mar 31

SciSpy App for iOS Lets You Practice Being a Real Ecologist

Do you believe, deep down, that it is your hidden calling to become a masterful ecologist? SciSpy, the Science Channel’s new app, lets you dabble in this field by allowing you to document the natural world around you—even if you don’t go any further than your own backyard. The app lets you snap pictures of…

Tech News Davey Alba Mar 30

How a human virus is killing endangered gorillas

There’s fewer than 800 Mountain Gorillas left in the entire world, and their survival depends in part on people willing to pay money to go see them. But all this human interaction is bringing gorillas into contact with dangerous diseases. Although humans are most closely related to chimpanzees, gorillas rank a very respectable second, sharing…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28

Coming Soon: A Massive Wind Farm to Power Kenya

There are some 700 million people in Africa without access to electricity. As the continent modernizes, those people will need power. But could African power be a perfect place for leapfrog technology—when a developing society goes straight to the most modern technology without going through the iterations seen in the developed world? A new windfarm…

io9 Ariel Schwartz - Fast Company Mar 28

Why are these trees completely wrapped in spider webs?

Spiders have been a plague on the earth ever since they marched their eight feet out of hell. In some areas, spiders have been known to cocoon entire trees. And it turns out there’s a benefit to their efforts. One such giant spiderweb site was found near Lake Tawakoni in Texas. Webs of long-jawed orb…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 25

10 works of fiction that might change the way you look at nature

Science fiction and fantasy have tackled everything from environmentalist utopias, to horrific industrial disasters that create pollution zombies. Here are ten speculative novels that explore environmental themes, from a variety of political perspectives, that could change the way you look at nature forever. 1. Ecotopia, by Ernest Callenbach In the near future, the “Helicopter War”…

io9 Annalee Newitz Mar 21

Why the rock-paper-scissors game explains natural selection

It’s time for another apparently ridiculous analogy linking together a basic facet of the natural world with a piece of pop culture ephemera! This time around, rock-paper-scissors explains why three or more competitors for the same resources can coexist forever. There’s a basic rule of thumb in ecology that, if two species are in competition…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 15

Q: What’s one way to unclog a frozen river? A: Dynamite

When the Rideau River in Ottawa, Canada freezes for the winter, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and city officials clear up the river’s ice jams using a rather jarring method — blowing up the ice with dynamite. Granted, the ice is first fractured using saws and amphibious excavators to diminish property damage and harm to…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Feb 27

Inside the mysterious mechanics of a mud volcano

In 2006 the ground near Sidoarjo, Indonesia started spitting up mud. The mud volcano, Lusi, has been continuously erupting ever since, displacing 40,000 people and killing fifteen. How long it keeps going depends on the cause, which remains unknown. Some scientists believe Lusi will keep erupting for at least another twenty years. Others believe the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 25

10 Agribusiness Methods That Could Fail in the Next 20 years

A generation ago, most farms were still relatively small and independent, but the past 20-30 years have seen factory farms become a quasi-monopoly. What will farms look like a generation from now? One thing’s for sure — farming won’t look the same as it does now. Even if you ignore larger factors — like skyrocketing…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders and Michael Ann Dobbs Feb 24

Would you pay $10,000 to turn your plastic into petroleum?

An inventor in Japan is betting that you will. Akinori Ito has made the world’s first home plastic recycling contraption. It takes commercial plastics, like bags and bottles, and burns them to generate oil. More work is needed to turn the oil into gasoline for a car, but it can be burned in heating systems…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 18

Fish in polluted waters have evolved into toxin-resistant super mutants

The Atlantic tomcod that live in the heavily polluted Hudson River have come up with an extreme solution to deal with all the toxins surrounding them: mutate, and mutate fast. But though their super-speedy adaptation has allowed them to survive over thirty years in the dirty rivers, it may have come at a terrible price.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 17

Why Water Is The Weirdest Liquid

It’s in our homes, our schools, and in houses of national and international power. It’s running through our country and underneath our cities. It goes into all of our food, and many of us go to sleep at night with some quantity of it by our bedside. It’s water, and since we see it every…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 16

End the prejudice against non-native species! Embrace the new nature.

The first accurate map of how green the Earth really is

The days of “Easy Oil” are over

Sea squirts could hold the secret to human immortality

You could soon be dining on diapers

If giant squid monsters ever attack, we can defend ourselves with sound

It took a few dozen people, including Special Forces soldiers, to capture this sacred giant turtle

Arctic ozone levels dropped by as much as half in the past year

SciSpy App for iOS Lets You Practice Being a Real Ecologist

How a human virus is killing endangered gorillas

Coming Soon: A Massive Wind Farm to Power Kenya

Why are these trees completely wrapped in spider webs?

10 works of fiction that might change the way you look at nature

Why the rock-paper-scissors game explains natural selection

Q: What’s one way to unclog a frozen river? A: Dynamite

Inside the mysterious mechanics of a mud volcano

10 Agribusiness Methods That Could Fail in the Next 20 years

Would you pay $10,000 to turn your plastic into petroleum?

Fish in polluted waters have evolved into toxin-resistant super mutants

Why Water Is The Weirdest Liquid

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