Mildred Dresselhaus, A Professor Emerita At The Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Whose Research

Shark finning is the gruesome act of catching sharks, slicing off its fins, then throwing the body back into the ocean to drown or bleed to death. Without fins, sharks cannot balance or move, so it slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, where it suffocates or bleeds to death.

Sharks kill only 6 people each year. Over 100 million sharks are killed yearly, and 11,480 hourly. Because of this, shark populations are plummeting very, very fast. Some shark species are close to extinction, with some populations being dropped by 99%.

Sharks are greatly misunderstood, and are absolutely crucial to healthy ocean ecosystems. But some species of shark are in danger due to hunting and over fishing. There’s a lot to be done to make sure these vital predators have a secure position in the oceans. As a starting point, here are seven small ways you can help the cause.

Observation of the Week, 3/9/16

This Zombie Ant Fungus seen by jonathan_kolby in Cusuco National Park, Honduras is our Observation of the Week.

“I was walking down the trail, in pursuit of a frog, when this alien-like creature suddenly grabbed my attention out of the corner of my eye,” says National Geographic Explorer Jonathan Kolby. “This was the first time I had ever seen cordyceps fungus and didn’t know what it was at the time.” What he photographed (identified by Prof. David Hughes of Penn State), is likely the incredible fungus known as the Zombie Ant Fungus, which parasitizes its insect host and basically controls its brain. The host is often compelled to climb up the stem of a plant and uses its mandibles to latch onto it (known as the “death grip”). Fruiting bodies of the fungus eventually grow out of the host and release spores back into the forest. “After seeing this in person, I don’t think anyone would argue that nature is more amazing than the best sci-fi movie,” he says. “I now keep my eyes peeled every time I return to the forest to see if I can find another zombie insect! Just a few weeks ago, I found another one, this time of a moth (see below).”

(By the way, the BBC has incredible footage of an ant afflicted by Zombie Ant Fungus, you should definitely check it out.)

It is, however, another fungus which brings Jonathan to the rainforests of Honduras - Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, commonly known as chytrid. It and the newly discovered B. salamandrivorans cause the disease chytridiomycosis, which is devastating amphibian populations around the world. The fungus does its damage by affecting the keratin-producing layer of skin in amphibians, disrupting electrolyte balance and chemical flow, “and ultimately kills the amphibian by causing a little froggy heart attack,” says Jonathan. For the past 10 years, Jonathan has specifically been working to combat the global amphibian extinction crisis and recently established the Honduras Amphibian Research & Conservation Center (http://www.FrogRescue.com), where they are working to protect three endangered species of frogs from chytrid. He’ll be finishing up his PhD at James Cook University in Australia and “now wants to help develop policies to protect biodiversity from emerging infectious diseases, reduce the spread of invasive species, and combat the illegal wildlife trade.” 

Believing  that photography and social media are important for raising awareness about these issues, Jonathan is active on many social media outlets (see below) one of which is iNaturalist. In addition to adding his own observations, he created an iNaturalist Project called Saving Salamanders with Citizen Science, where he’s asking folks to upload any photos they have of dead salamanders. “A new chytrid fungus disease [B. salamandrivorans] is beginning to spread around the world killing salamanders and we’re having a hard time tracking where it’s going,” he says. “With so many people outside looking at nature, anyone who snaps a picture of a dead salamander can provide valuable scientific data that might help us pinpoint where an outbreak is happening, so we can respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.” He invites anyone who’s interested in the issue to join, as he’ll be providing updates via the project; “iNaturalist has provided me with a way to communicate this message and raise awareness with a large audience of people who want to help protect nature.”

- by Tony Iwane

- You can follow Jonathan on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, and check out his photos on SmugMug. Proceeds from SmugMug sales go to supporting his frog rescue operation at the Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center.

- Here are links to two other cordyceps observations Jonathan has uploaded.

- Cordyceps fungus have even inspired video games! The acclaimed survival horror video game The Last of Us posits a world where a mutant strain of cordyceps affects humans, turning them into cannibalistic monsters. 

Scientists need your help looking at photos of adorable penguins. Seriously

"We can't do this work on our own."

Guys, this is not a drill. Antarctic scientists need you to study photos of penguins to help them figure out how climate change is affecting these stumpy little flightless birds.

Scientists from the UK have installed a series of 75 cameras near penguin territories in Antarctica and its surrounding islands to figure out what’s happening with local populations. But with each of those cameras taking hourly photos, they simply can’t get through all the adorable images without your help.

“We can’t do this work on our own,” lead researcher Tom Hart from the University of Oxford told the BBC, “and every penguin that people click on and count on the website - that’s all information that tells us what’s happening at each nest, and what’s happening over time.”

The citizen science project is pretty simple - known as PenguinWatch 2.0, all you need to do is log on, look at photos, and identify adult penguins, chicks, and eggs in each image. Each photo requires just a few clicks to identify, and you can chat about your results in the website’s ‘Discuss’ page with other volunteers.

Continue Reading.

Quoll Returns to the Australian Mainland After 50 Years

On March 1st, Fourteen eastern quolls were released into Australia’s mainland to rebuild their population because of a team’s effort from Australian National University. Since the 1770′s, quoll numbers have been declining due to many dangers such as habitat loss and predators that include foxes, wild dogs, and cats.

The quoll is carnivorous and feeds on smaller mammals, small birds, lizards, and insects. Until now, it has inhabited inland parts of Australia. There are six current species(pictured is the tiger quoll). The larger of which live longer than the smaller, with an average life span of two to five years.

So, whats the point of this translocation? Well, quolls are important to the functioning of the mainland ecosystem where they regulate the prey species. The released quolls will have radio tracking collars to be monitored.

Fact about the quoll: Male and female quolls only meet for mating, and male den territories often overlap female territories. However, they have communal toilets where they may have up to 100 droppings in them.

Photo by:  joshua cunningham via Flickr

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Via National Geographic:

Finally, You Can See Dinosaurs in All Their Feathered Glory

At first glance, it may be hard to see how the ducks you feed, the pigeons you dodge, or the peacocks you admire have anything in common with the “terrible lizards” portrayed in iconic dinosaur movies such as Jurassic Park.

But many scientists now believe that modern birds are living dinosaurs. Specifically, a group of two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs called theropods seems to have evaded the great dino extinction event 65 million years ago by developing feathers, bigger and more adaptable brains, and smaller, more airborne forms.

“It’s important that people understand dinosaurs are still among us,” says Mark Norell, chair of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. “They’re represented by at least 13,000 species alive today.”

Norell has curated the new exhibit Dinosaurs Among Us, which opened on March 18, that maps out the evolutionary history of birds while challenging the popular perception of dinosaurs as green, scaly lizards.

Read the full story. 

Diving with a Great White: Not so frightening after all