2010 September — The Sticky Tongue Project

Home » 2010 » September

Resource Restoration Planning Process Begins for BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the co-trustees for natural resources affected by the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill announced today they have started the injury assessment and restoration planning phase of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment, a legal process to determine the type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for harm to natural resources and their human uses as a result of the spill.

Continue reading »
Global showdown chooses six panda caretakers

Six lucky candidates have been awarded the highly coveted opportunity to work as panda caretakers for one month, after an intense three-hour live showdown on China’s largest television network, CCTV.

Continue reading »
For the first time, monkeys recognize themselves in the mirror, indicating self-awareness

Typically, monkeys don’t know what to make of a mirror. They may ignore it or interpret their reflection as another, invading monkey, but they don’t recognize the reflection as their own image. Chimpanzees and people pass this “mark” test — they obviously recognize their own reflection and make funny faces, look at a temporary mark that the scientists have placed on their face or wonder how they got so old and grey.

Continue reading »
Protection Sought for Black-backed Woodpeckers Under California Endangered Species Act

The John Muir Project and the Center for Biological Diversity today submitted a scientific petition to list the black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) as a threatened or endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act. The protection of this rare woodpecker species is likely to have large-scale implications for post-fire logging policies in California.

Continue reading »
Report Casts World’s Rivers in ‘Crisis State’

The world’s rivers, the single largest renewable water resource for humans and a crucible of aquatic biodiversity, are in a crisis of ominous proportions, according to a new global analysis.

Continue reading »
Squirrels Masturbate in the Name of STD Protection

There’s a famous picture that has probably been burned into the retinas of anyone who spends a lot of time on the internet. It’s a squirrel, standing up, with a surprisingly huge pair of testicles dangling beneath him. That’s a Cape ground squirrel and the image isn’t a fake. Males have a scrotum that’s 20% of their body length (excluding the tail) and their penis is more than twice as long.

Continue reading »
New plan to save Mediterranean biodiversity

An alliance of conservationists and international donors on Wednesday unveiled a map of six areas on the Mediterranean rim aimed at guiding policy for preserving precious habitats and threatened species.

Continue reading »
Biodiversity Photo Of The Day: Liben Lark

The Liben Lark, Heteromirafra sidamoensis, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Found only in one small area of open grassland in southern Ethiopia, this little-known bird has a tiny population, and could well become extinct within just a few years. Its occurrence in a single small, unprotected area, the Liben Plain just outside Negele, makes the Liben Lark highly vulnerable to any threats. Currently, the greatest threat to the species is habitat loss, [...]

Continue reading »
Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for Rare Forest Carnivore Once Believed Extinct

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Protection Information Center today petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Humboldt marten under the Endangered Species Act. The Humboldt marten is a cat-sized carnivore related to minks and otters that lives only in coastal, old-growth forests in Northern California and southern Oregon. Because nearly all of its old-growth forest habitat has been destroyed by logging, the Humboldt marten is so rare that it was believed extinct for 50 [...]

Continue reading »
Spending Time in Nature Makes People Feel More Alive

Feeling sluggish? The solution may require getting outside the box – that big brick-and-mortar box called a building.

Continue reading »
Chimps Understand and Mourn Death, Research Suggests

Chimpanzees may gather in hushed quiet to watch a fellow ape in her dying moments, and chimp mothers in the wild may carry their infants’ mummified remains for weeks, according to new research on how humanity’s closest living relatives deal with the deaths of those closest to them.

Continue reading »
Tiny Insect Brains Capable of Huge Feats

Insects may have tiny brains the size of a pinhead, but the latest research from the University of Adelaide shows just how clever they really are.

Continue reading »
Democracy in Action: Dancing Honeybees Practice What We Preach

When honeybees seek a new home, they choose the best site through a democratic process that humans would do well to emulate, according to a Cornell biologist.

Continue reading »
Study finds potential climate change side effect: More parasites on South American birds

A Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) study on nesting birds in Argentina finds that increasing temperatures and rainfall—both side effects of climate change in some parts of the world—could be bad for birds of South America, but great for some of their parasites which thrive in warmer and wetter conditions.

Continue reading »
So Far, Fish Appear to be Healthy After Fly Ash Spill

Fish exposed to fly ash at the site of the Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill are faring better than some expected, researchers have learned.

Continue reading »
Biodiversity Photo Of The Day: Atlantic Sturgeon

The Atlantic Sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Sturgeons are one of the oldest fish families in existence, but with 85 percent of all sturgeon species at risk of extinction, they are also the world’s most threatened animal group. The Atlantic Sturgeon was previously abundant along all European coasts, but today is restricted to a single, reproductive population that breeds in the Gironde, Garonne and Dordogne basins, France.

Continue reading »
Extreme Microbe Drinks Dew on Spiderwebs to Live

In the bone-dry desert, a truly remarkable, newfound microbial species manages to eke out a living drinking the meager moisture that condenses from the air onto spiderwebs.

Continue reading »
Elevated Nitrogen and Phosphorus Still Widespread in Much of the US’s Streams and Groundwater

Elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that can negatively impact aquatic ecosystems and human health, have remained the same or increased in many streams and aquifers across the Nation since the early 1990’s, according to a new national study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Continue reading »