[ad_1] Every spring, millions of migratory fish leave the Atlantic Ocean and swim into freshwater rivers to reproduce, continuing journeys that have existed for thousands of years. On Maine’s Penobscot River, however, hydroelectric dams blocked many of these ancient migrations for more than a century, causing dramatic declines in species such as American shad, river…

[ad_1] Grade 9 student, Akshat Anand, wins gold for wearable that detects IV leaks early (Photo credit: Surrey Schools) At just 13 or 14 years old, most Grade 9 students are still getting comfortable with science fair pressure. Akshath Anand of Surrey Academy of Innovative Learning did something far bigger: he walked into the Canada-Wide…

[ad_1] Image Credit: Journal of Lost Species Some discoveries happen the moment a specimen is collected. Others take years. In this case, it took nearly two decades.A tiny deep-reef fish brought up from the waters off South Australia in 2006 spent nearly two decades in a museum collection after being mistaken for a known species….

[ad_1] Representative Image of marine life thriving around resilient chicken kidney sponges in polluted waters (AI-generated image) Researchers in Spain spent 455 days tracking how sponges from five species of Mediterranean sea life coped with being moved from clean, natural habitats toward a heavily polluted recreational marina near Girona. The experiment was designed to test…

[ad_1] Representative Image of Lithops werneri camouflaged among grey stones in Namibia’s Erongo Mountains (AI-generated image) In a small patch of Namibia’s Erongo Mountains, a tiny succulent grows so convincingly disguised as a pebble that most people would walk straight past it without a second glance. This plant, Lithops werneri, survives by mimicking the grey,…

[ad_1] Bombardier beetles possess a unique defense mechanism involving explosive chemical sprays. These insects mix chemicals to create a hot, noxious spray for protection. Their specialized internal structures allow them to survive these powerful self-inflicted explosions. Bombardier beetles can fire their chemical bombs multiple times before needing to escape. These fascinating insects have evolved remarkable…

[ad_1] Pygmy Sperm Whale’s Deep Dive (AI-generated image) Pygmy sperm whales are among the least studied large mammals in the ocean, spending nearly their entire lives far offshore, diving deep to hunt squid and fish, and rarely surfacing long enough to be observed alive. Most of what scientists know about the species comes instead from…

[ad_1] This winter’s survey of the western monarch butterfly revealed over 12,000 individuals, a small rise from last year. Despite this slight increase, conservationists remain alarmed as numbers are still critically low. Ongoing challenges such as habitat loss and environmental stressors severely impact the butterfly population. Conservation initiatives are actively working on restoring habitats and…