The US government is partnering with Texas-based de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences to build a national repository of genetic material from endangered and threatened species. The effort comes as the Trump administration moves to weaken endangered species protections, including a recent decision to waive them to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. In collaboration with the … Read more
Scientists from the Universiti Malaysia Sabah have discovered a newly identified “parasite of parasites” in the tropical forests of Borneo. More specifically, it is what the researchers describe as a hyperparasite—an organism capable of parasitizing other parasites. In this case, its targets are zombie fungi. The new fungal species, named Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata for its distinctive … Read more
On Wednesday morning, workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC. The treatment is the latest attempt by the Interior Department to control an algae bloom that has turned the pool bright green, despite President Donald Trump’s costly renovation to make it “American flag blue” in time for the nation’s … Read more
A flesh-eating parasitic fly that poses a major threat to livestock has returned to the United States after 60 years. This week, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of New World screwworm in a calf in southern Texas. Eliminated in the US in 1966 and as far south as Panama by 2006, its … Read more
Finding legitimately eco-friendly travel options is difficult, not to mention time-consuming. The gap between sustainability claims and practices can be quite large, and greenwashing isn’t always easy to identify. But there are signs to look for. Researchers in Turkey recently identified five key categories to describe the most common forms of tourism-related greenwashing: eco-certifications, inadequate … Read more