Featured Articles
Pre-Inca Canal System Uses Hillsides as Sponges to Store Water
in Eos
A team of hydrologists, engineers, and social scientists hoping to strengthen the water security of Lima and other Peruvian cities analyzed a 1,400-year-old nature-based system developed by pre-Inca mountain communities.
This story was a SciShortform Honorable Mention for Q4 of 2019.
Forgotten trove of fossil feathers belonged to tiny polar dinosaurs
In Ars Technica
Researchers have described ten fossil feathers from the polar regions of the former continent Gondwana for the first time. The fossils were initially discovered in the 1960s, but most of the technologies and knowledge used to understand the feathers described in this study didn’t yet exist. They were tucked away in a drawer in the Melbourne Museum for decades, until Martin Kundrát happened across an old paper.
Agriculture, mining, hunting push critically endangered gorilla to the brink
In Mongabay
Maiko National Park is one of just two national parks in the world known to contain the highly endangered Grauer’s gorilla, but the bushmeat trade, artisanal mining, and increasing population pressure are jeopardizing the species.
This story was one of the top 15 most-read stories on Mongabay in 2019.
Writing by Topic
Paleo, Archeology, and History
New England forests were historically shaped by climate, not people, in Eos
Edmond Dewan, citizen science, and the mystery of ball lightning in Eos
Poor water management implicated in failure of ancient Khmer capital in Eos
Forgotten trove of fossil feathers belonged to tiny polar dinosaurs in Ars Technica
Hurricanes, climate change, and the decline of the Maya in Ars Technica
Pre-Inca Canal System Uses Hillsides as Sponges to Store Water in Eos
One of Europe’s worst famines likely caused by devastating floods in AGU’s GeoSpace
A 450-Year Record of North Sea Herring, Pried from Clams in Hakai Magazine
The Mystery of the 19th Century Maine Marine Monster in Hakai Magazine
Animals
Power lines may mess with honeybees’ behavior and ability to learn in Science News
A new pesticide is all the buzz in Ars Technica
This shrimplike creature makes aluminum armor in Science Magazine
Super-spreaders: How the curious life of a newt could ignite a pandemic in Mongabay
How acoustic monitoring gave us a last chance to save the vaquita in Mongabay
Nearly half of Mount Oku frogs are in danger of croaking, study finds in Mongabay
A spate of death’s in India’s oldest tiger reserve causes concern in Pacific Standard
Environment and Sustainability
Agriculture, mining, hunting push critically endangered gorilla to the brink in Mongabay
The world needs to get serious about managing sand in Science Magazine
Huge rubber plantation in Cameroon halts deforestation following rebuke in Mongabay
Tropical deforestation is the third-biggest carbon emitter in the world in Pacific Standard
What’s causing deforestation? in Mongabay
Plantations can produce more palm oil if they keep rivers forested in Mongabay
As biomass energy gains traction, southern US forests feel the burn in Mongabay
Estonia’s trees: valued resource or squandered second chance? in Mongabay
Mothers vs. loggers: the destruction of Bialowieza Forest splits Poland in Mongabay
Sand mining ban lifted on beach in Suriname in Mongabay
In the fishing industry, gear recycling is finally catching on in Ensia
