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EartherSaudi Crown Prince Asks, Answers What if a City, But It’s a 105-Mile Line
Vicious Saudi autocrat Mohamed bin Salman has a new vision for Neom, his plan for a massive, $500 billion, AI-powered, nominally legally independent city-state of the future on the border with Egypt and Jordan. When we last left the crown prince, he had reportedly commissioned 2,300-pages’ worth of proposals from Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & … Continued
By Tom McKay -
ScienceBiologyScientists Discover Short-Legged Corgi Giraffes
Being extremely tall is sort of a giraffe’s whole thing. So when scientists recently spotted two wild giraffes with relatively short legs—nearly halving their adult height—they were stunned. “The initial reaction was a bit of curious disbelief,” said Michael Brown, a conservation biologist with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. In … Continued
By Jake Buehler -
EartherEarth ScienceA Large Chunk of Ice Has Torn Away From Menacing Iceberg A68a
The world’s largest free-floating iceberg appears to have lost its northernmost section, a possible result of it slamming into the shallow continental shelf surrounding the ecologically sensitive South Georgia island. A chunk of ice measuring approximately 70 square miles (180 square kilometers) has sheared away from iceberg A68a, according to new photos taken by the … Continued
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EartherWorld’s Largest Iceberg Now Ominously Close to Sensitive Island
A scary situation is developing in the southern Atlantic Ocean, as iceberg A68a is now within striking distance of South Georgia island. Alarmed by the turn of events, a team of scientists is heading out to investigate the ways in which this gigantic iceberg might affect the local wildlife. When we last reported on this … Continued
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EartherA Massive Elephant Herd Has ‘Taken Everyone by Surprise’ in Its Return to Virunga National Park
In a rare sign that not everything is terrible, elephants are returning to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1980, the lush 3,000-square-mile (7,770-square-kilometer) park was home to an estimated 8,000 elephants. Yet in recent years, the area has seen an increased presence of rebel militia groups that poach the … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
io9MoviesMonster Hunter’s Director Prefers the Film’s World…Because of Its Giant, Lootable Corpses
Who doesn’t love a good crafting sidequest? Well, apparently one of its biggest fans is Monster Hunter director Paul W. S. Anderson, who thinks it’s one of the reasons why a world filled with giant, killer monsters is better than the one we live in. During a chat on Capcom’s Twitch channel (as reported by … Continued
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EartherA Daring Giraffe Rescue Is Underway in Kenya
Conservationists, government officials, and local community members are banding together to pull off a rescue of eight giraffes stranded on a shrinking island in Kenya. In order to save these animals, they created a giraffe-safe barge to get them across to safe land. They made the first successful rescue of a giraffe named Asiwa today, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Earther‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ Will Finally Have Some Friends
Finally, some good news in 2020. And we have Cher to thank for it. Yes, that Cher. A 36-year-old bull elephant named Kaavan, whose worldwide fans have dubbed “the world’s loneliest elephant,” is finally heading to a new home after languishing at a dilapidated zoo in Pakistan for most of his life. After years of … Continued
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EartherKilling of Rare Canadian ‘Spirit’ Moose Sparks Outrage, Sadness and a Search for Those Responsible
When a rare white female moose was found dead in northern Ontario, Canada, along a remote service road last month, nearby indigenous residents were shocked. The animal is considered sacred by indigenous peoples in the region, and hunting it is banned in the areas where the slain animal was found. Then came outrage, sadness and … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
EartherA New Photo Book Shows America’s Last True Wilderness
If you’re a nature-lover in the U.S., you’re probably familiar with the National Park Service and how it protects landscapes. But a new book shows another group of protected wild places in America: the National Wildlife Refuge system. Ian Shive’s “Refuge: America’s Wildest Places,” which will be published on Tuesday, shows the largest network of … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherConservationThe Department of Agriculture Killed 1.2 Million Wild Animals Last Year
The mission of Wildlife Services, an office in the Department of Agriculture (USDA), is “to provide federal leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist.” In practice, that means slaughtering animals in droves. New data the USDA released this week shows that in 2019, the program killed approximately 1.2 … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherAll Hail 747, Your Hefty Fat Bear Champion of 2020
There can only be one true winner of Fat Bear Week. I’m pleased to announce 2020’s beefiest bear is 747. The aptly named ursine version of a jumbo jet won a bracket competition, beating out other monster bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska to claim the title. Now, we celebrate his claiming … Continued
By Catie Keck -
EartherConservationOh God, These Things Have a ‘Slaughter Phase’
Washington State officials are frantically searching for a colony of Asian giant hornets—also known as murder hornets—before the invasive species enters its “slaughter phase.” Because of course that’s a thing. Washington State Department of Agriculture personnel kicked off a campaign this week to uncover a murder hornet colony following a string of sightings near Blaine, … Continued
