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According to the United Nations Environment Programme, approximately 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are made from plastic. Those polyester stretchy pants you love so much? They can take up to 200 years to naturally decompose — the same as a plastic straw.But science is embracing n...
For the first time, scientists have cryopreserved and revived the larvae of a sea star species. The breakthrough, made with the giant pink star, gives hope the technique could be repeated to save the imperiled predator...
Elephant seals spend most of their lives at sea, returning to shore just twice every year to molt and breed. The breeding season typically includes males weighing thousands of kilograms violently clashing with each other to compete for females. New research finds the hefty mammals remember the voice...
A group of climate activists, led by tree-planting search engine Ecosia, has launched a campaign pressuring the Nobel Committee to recognize a Climate and Planetary Health Nobel Prize.“When Alfred Nobel created the prizes, he wrote that they must serve the greatest benefit to humankind,” Ecosia CEO ...
Northern resident killer whales appear to use dolphins as ‘scouts’, in a surprising cooperative hunting strategy Orcas and dolphins have been spotted for the first time working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study which suggests a cooperative relations...
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The monkeys were likely imported from thousands of miles away. Credit: P. Osypiński, M. Osypińska / Journal of Roman Archaeology Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Elites in Ancient Rome went to great lengths to advertise their sta...
DOUALA, Cameroon — Henry Belle Ekam, 37, cuts a frustrated figure as he paddles his boat to the shore in the Bojongo neighborhood of Cameroon’s largest city, Douala. The fisherman has been out on the waters of the Wouri Estuary for hours, and all he’s brought back to show for his effort is a tiny ca...
It’s a fundamental question for ecologists in this age: How are biodiversity losses reshaping how ecosystems function? A recent study quantifies the impact of biodiversity and abundance losses on ecological functions by tracking the energy flows within them. “African wildlife has lost a third of its...
Taking inspiration from anchovies and herrings, researchers have made a new filter that could keep microplastics from entering waterways and oceans. The filter, with a design based on the gill systems in these fish, traps a record high 99% of tiny microplastic fibers from washing machine wastewater....
This is the fourth part of Mongabay’s series on the expanding wolf population in California. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. A lone gray wolf (Canis lupus) named OR-7 — then a 2 ½-year-old male — created history when he crossed over the state line from Oregon into California in 2011, becoming the f...
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In early 2024, Michael Fedoroff trekked out to Tuckabum Creek in York County, Alabama. The environmental anthropologist was there to help plant 300 stalks of rivercane, a bamboo plant native to North America, on an eroded, degraded strip of wetland: a “gnarly” and “wicked” area, according to Fedorof...
Another major scientific warning about the planet’s accelerating decline landed this week, and once again, the numbers are sobering. Released at the U.N. Environment Assembly in Nairobi, the seventh Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) depicts a world facing intensifying climate shocks, rapid biodiver...
A new species of pumpkin toadlet, almost the size of a pencil tip, has been discovered within the damp, shadowy leaf litter of Brazil s Atlantic Forest. The dazzlingly bright orange creature has been named Brachycephalus lulai in honor of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This latest ad...
Since being collared in Zambia two years ago, a young bull elephant known to researchers as Z16 has walked nearly 12,000 kilometers, or 7,500 miles — three times the distance between New York and Los Angeles. In that time, Z16 has traversed four countries and visited six national parks. In Southern ...
New research finds extinction rates have been declining for a century, challenging assumptions of an ongoing mass extinction....
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Nature can be captivating, awe-inspiring, and downright metal. It can also be hilarious. Case in point: The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, a delightful dive into the silliness of the animal kingdom. The preeminent wildlife photography competition for wacky and whimsical animals announced its winners ...
Founder s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Chris Grinter has spent much of his life surrounded by insects — though not in the way most people imagine. As senior collection manager of entomology at the California...
The European Union has approved 100 cross-border hydrogen and electrolyzer initiatives as part of its broader plan to modernize its energy infrastructure and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. These projects will be eligible for streamlined permitting processes and substantial EU funding through the Connecting Europe...
Toads can lay between 2,000 and 20,000 eggs in a season. But only one in 50 will typically survive the leap from egg to tadpole to "frog-hood."“They lay those eggs, and they develop into teeny, tiny tadpoles, of which only a fraction ever make it out of the pond,” Dr. Mark D. Scherz, the curator of ...
What every good boy and girl needs is a forever home and owners who love them to the moon and back. And, let's be honest, in a perfect world, there'd be no need for rescue shelters because our bestest friends would all have roofs over their derpy heads where they can blep in peace. It might not be a...
