Are COVID-19 Lockdowns Really Causing Nature to Heal?
WEBMay 26, 2021 · Share. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last spring and people around the world went into lockdown, a certain type of news story started to spring up—the idea that, in the absence of people, nature was returning to a healthier, more pristine state. There were viral reports of dolphins in the canals of Venice, Italy, and pumas in the …
Fish Feel Pain. Now What? - Hakai Magazine
WEBJan 2, 2018 · It’s likely different from what humans feel, but it is still a kind of pain.”. At the anatomical level, fish have neurons known as nociceptors, which detect potential harm, such as high temperatures, intense pressure, and caustic chemicals. Fish produce the same opioids—the body’s innate painkillers—that mammals do.
Why We Can’t Shake Ambergris - Hakai Magazine
WEBAug 17, 2021 · In December 2020, British woman Jodie Crews posted photos online of a mysterious object she’d found at a beach. One helpful respondent suggested poking the object with a hot pin to see if it smoked, a common (if unreliable) test for ambergris. Crews did, and the object exploded into flames, setting fire to her kitchen.
Iceland’s Confusing Inter-cetacean Conflict | Hakai Magazine
WEBSep 23, 2021 · Interactions between killer and pilot whales have only been scientifically documented a few times, and Samarra is among the first scientists to have observed this behavior in Iceland. Since the 2015 encounter, she’s seen similar interactions around 20 times. Iceland’s pilot whales may be assuming that the killer whales in the area, which ...
Scandinavia’s Missing Bronze-Age Boatyards | Hakai Magazine
WEBAug 7, 2024 · During the Nordic Bronze Age, from around 2000 to 500 BCE, commodities of all kinds flowed in and out of northern Europe through long-distance trade networks that stretched across the continent. That includes the era’s eponymous bronze, which evidence suggests was smelted from tin and copper mined as far afield as Spain and the British …
The Mysterious, Vexing, and Utterly Engrossing Search for the …
WEBSep 13, 2022 · In the fourth century BCE, Aristotle proclaimed that eels spontaneously generated within “the entrails of the earth” and that they didn’t have genitals. The no-genital theory held for generations. Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder asserted that eels rubbed against rocks and their dead skin “scrapings come to life.”.
How the Ocean Inside the Mantle Affects the Habitability of the …
WEBJun 15, 2022 · Much as the cycling of water between the atmosphere, glaciers, lakes, rivers, aquifers, and the ocean affects the level of the sea, the abundance of rain, and the frequency of drought, the exchange of water between the mantle and the surface also dictates the habitability of the Earth. Scientists already know that water can be dragged …
Suiting Up like a Shark Is Still a Struggle | Hakai Magazine
WEBOct 19, 2022 · One of the biggest differences, she says, is that unlike a ribbed fabric, real shark skin is made of hard enamel structures on a flexible surface. When asked to rate the swimsuit materials out of 10, Gabler-Smith gave the FS Fastskin II and Lzr Racer Elite 2 a three and a seven, respectively, and her lab-made engineered surface an eight or nine.
Steller’s Sea Cows’ Ecological Legacy | Hakai Magazine
WEBOct 8, 2021 · Share. In the chilly waters off Russia’s Commander Islands, a Steller’s sea cow grazed on kelp fronds. The buoyant behemoth sheltered her calf close to shore and away from predators. Seabirds perched on their exposed backs, eating parasites from their skin. It was here, some 250 years ago, that these giant sirenians met their end.
Petrifying Climate Change - Hakai Magazine
WEBJun 3, 2021 · The biggest seems to be the amount of solids the process would create once it’s operating at a scale meaningful enough to affect climate change. Removing 10 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the ocean, for instance, would yield 20 gigatonnes of carbonates—at a minimum, says Sant. He does have an idea for what to do with all …