A passion for the natural world drives many of our adventures. When I’m not outside, I love exploring discoveries about the places I live and travel to. Here are some of the best natural history links I found this week.
Vultures prevent carbon dioxide emissions. Vultures prey on the carcasses of other animals. Many people view these birds in a negative light.
In fact, vultures play an important role in many ecosystems. Their cleaning maintains nutrient cycling and controls the spread of pathogens from dead animals to living animals. Eliminating spoilage prevents many greenhouse gas emissions. One vulture can prevent around one kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions every day. Applying this to the 140 million vultures he has on Earth adds up to tens of millions of tons each year.
Glen Canyon Reappears
Glen Canyon reveals its secrets: Lake Powell is the second largest reservoir in America. Once popular for water sports, it now stands for drought in the West.
The lake is part of the Colorado River system, which supplies water to 40 million people. At first, the amount of water allocated to his seven provinces to serve was overestimated. The drought of the last two decades has also devastated the region.
One of the positive aspects of this is the recreation of Glen Canyon. The canyon has been submerged since the Colorado River was dammed to create this reservoir. As the canyon resurfaces, the animals that once called it home are returning.
red fox.Photo: Shutterstock
Foxes fishing for food: A new paper details the first record of red foxes fishing for food. The video was filmed by him in 2016, but the details of the study were only released earlier this year.
In the video, a male red fox stalks for hours and catches a few carp. No one had ever seen this behavior before. The red fox is one of the two canids that hunt fish. Another is the wolf that lives on the Pacific coast of North America.
“We’ve been studying this species for years, and we never expected something like this,” said ecologist Jorge Tovajas.
The discovery was accidental. Researchers were working on another project when they saw a fox fishing. What surprised me the most was its accuracy.
“The fox hunted a lot of carp without making any mistakes,” Tobajas said. “This made us realize it wasn’t the first time he’d done it.”
Neptune’s Moon and Rings
The James Webb Telescope Captures Neptune’s Rings: The James Webb Telescope sent back images of Neptune, showing the planet’s rings and dust bands sharper than ever.
“It’s incredible to see these rings,” said planetary scientist Lee Fletcher. “We’re accessing wavelengths that no one has ever seen before.
Longer wavelengths give researchers insight into global circulation patterns. Her 7 of Neptune’s 14 moons are also visible in the image. These are the best pictures of an icy planet since Voyager 2 in 1989.
How whales avoid dementia
Why whales don’t get brain damage while swimming: When a mammal runs, the movement moves the blood. This creates a “pulse” in the brain, causing a spike in pressure.
These pulses can eventually lead to dementia. Some mammals alleviate this by inhaling and exhaling during locomotion, but cetaceans must hold their breath while diving.
Whales have a network of blood vessels around their brain and spine. Its function has puzzled scientists. Now they think the retina uses a “pulse transfer” mechanism to keep the same pressure of blood in and out of the brain.
4 out of 20000 trillion ants.Photo: Shutterstock
Unimaginable numbers of ants: Scientists at the University of Hong Kong estimate that there are 20,000 trillion ants on Earth. Its total mass is greater than that of all birds and mammals combined. Also, one person has about 2.5 million ants.
“It’s unimaginable,” said Patrick Schulteis, lead author of the study. “He can’t imagine having 20,000 trillion ants in one pile. It just doesn’t work.”
Ants play an important role in many ecosystems. They aerate the soil through constant tunnels, help seed movement, and are a source of food.
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