Maremma dogs and the Middle Island Project

A dog once saved an entire species of penguins. Yes, you heard that right. On Middle Island in Australia, the population of Little Penguins had crashed to fewer than ten. Foxes were invading at night, turning the colony into an easy buffet. It looked like the end of the world’s smallest penguins. Then came the …

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Red Tail Scores

A good pic by Adam Spelhaug. Source This condor one was good too.

Reading for pleasure in freefall: Research finds 40% drop over two decades

A sweeping new study from the University of Florida and University College London has found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years—raising urgent questions about the cultural, educational and health consequences of a nation reading less. Reading for pleasure in freefall: Research …

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The Origin of Language and BIas

In The Origin of Language, Madeleine Beekman, a professor emerita of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology, considers human evolution through the often-neglected lens of child-rearing, bringing a relatively new perspective to the field. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, most popular theories of evolution focused on male-dominated, and in many cases aggressive, activities such as …

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The etymology of bridezilla plus Fluke.

SourceThe strange paths of culture. why small, chance events can divert our lives and change everything, by social scientist and Atlantic writer Brian Klaas. ​It meshes a little with this book I looked at a bit lately. Basically humans want a simple fantasy of the world when its complexity and unpredictability in some realms are …

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Slot Canyons

  Antelope Canyon above. ​I think I have seen pix of since I was a kid without knowing much about it. I remember reading, probably in the Audubon mag, as a kid about the many slot canyons and was very intrigued. They are spectacular. Antelope Canyon is a tourist trap now. To my surprise, there …

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Jökulhlaup

I love the chaotic jumble. I am reminded of the ice after the tide is out here. Captured on Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 2:50 PM, this film showcases an extraordinary natural event on the River Sjoa in Heidal. With temperatures plunging between 20 and 30 degrees below zero, the conditions were set for a …

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A Vampire on a Vampire?

A scientist caught this bat during a biodiversity survey. When Piotr Naskrecki spotted the parasite on the bat’s head, his interest was immediately aroused and he quickly started to take photographs for research. Piotr didn’t have much time before the bat was released, and the parasite was removed, but he did manage to capture the …

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Speaking of Villeneuve, Dune 2

I got it out of the library, last week. There was a time I couldn’t wait to see it. Now I dragged my feet for months. I saw the Dune movie, a month ago, and I have been meaning to post about it but, as usual, time burns away. I had mixed feelings about it. …

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