ScienceBiology

Japanese Sushi Magnate Kicks Off 2019 by Ridiculously Overpaying for Bluefin, Regretting It

A Japanese restaurateur set a record on Saturday by paying nearly $3.1 million (333.6 million yen) for a massive, 613-pound Pacific bluefin tuna at the first auction of the year of Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, and almost immediately conceded that perhaps he should not have paid that much, Reuters reported. Sushizanmai chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura—who … Continued

Earther

Ryan Zinke Scribbles About His Public Lands Legacy as National Parks Devolve Into Chaos

Wednesday is scandal haver Ryan Zinke’s last day as Secretary of the Interior. And it looks like his last official tweet will be the perfect memorial to his utter lack of self awareness. The tweet features a photo of Zinke’s farewell note that looks part serial killer, part mixtape written in barely-legible red marker on … Continued

ScienceBiology

Dozens of Stranded Sea Turtles Rescued After Indonesian Tsunami

Volunteer rescuers working on beaches along Sundra Strait have rescued more than 30 stranded sea turtles, following the Indonesian tsunami that has killed hundreds of people, the Guardian reports. On December 22, Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau island volcano triggered a massive landslide, generating a tsunami that killed at least 430 people. With nearly 160 people still … Continued

EartherConservation

Eastern Lowland Gorillas Heading Towards ‘Genetic Meltdown’

Eastern lowland gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have endured dramatic population declines in recent decades, leading to a startling lack of genetic diversity and a slew of harmful mutations, according to new research. By comparing the genomes of living eastern lowland gorillas, also known as Grauer’s gorillas, with genomes derived from museum … Continued

Tech NewsNews

Japan Says It Will Withdraw From IWC and Resume Commercial Whaling

Japan announced this week it will be splitting from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order to renew its commercial whaling practices. The announcement comes after years of Japan exploiting a loophole in IWC’s international moratorium on whale killings, and after the IWC declined to approve its bid for commercial whaling, the Wall Street Journal … Continued

ScienceBiology

Despite Risks From Poachers, a Rare Albino Orangutan Is Released Back Into the Wild

A rare and particularly striking albino orangutan who was rescued from villagers in Borneo last year has been released back into the wild following successful rehabilitation. The 5-year-old female seems fit and ready to tackle the demands of forest life, but poaching remains a primary concern. Alba, as she’s been named, was rescued in early … Continued

EartherEnergy

California Regulators Vote to Require All Transit Agency Buses Produce Zero Emissions by 2040

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has ordered the state’s bus agencies to switch to entirely emissions-free vehicles within 20 years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday, as part of a larger overall push to push back against Republicans’ efforts on the national front to undermine state emissions regulations. The policy is the first … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Ryan Zinke Will Be Drilling Oil Fields in Trump Official Heaven Now

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke—who, when he’s not wearing ranger hats backwards and insisting he’s a geologist has worked diligently to undermine environmental policies and rack up ethics scandals—is out, Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday. Zinke will depart at the end of 2018, the president wrote. Like former Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, Zinke is … Continued

ScienceBiology

World’s Oldest Wild Bird Just Laid Another Dang Egg

The world’s oldest wild bird, Wisdom the Laysan albatross, has once again returned to her breeding grounds, and she has laid another egg. She is at least 68 years old, but doesn’t look a day over 6. Laysan albatross are sea-faring birds found in the northern Pacific Ocean that breed in the northwestern Hawaiian islands, … Continued

Earther

Genius Ryan Zinke Calls Congressman Who Will Likely Be Future Oversight Chair a Drunk

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke—a man who wears ranger hats backwards and spreads conspiracy theories about how “radical environmentalists” are responsible for wildfires when he’s not destroying public land protections and calling for more drilling—just accused a sitting congressman of alcoholism in retaliation for writing that Zinke should resign. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the top Democrat … Continued

EartherConservation

International Auction Houses Sotheby’s, Bonhams Say They’ll Stop Selling Rhino Horn

International auction house Sotheby’s has canceled an upcoming sale of rhino horn artifacts in Hong Kong and joined other companies like Bonhams in saying they will no longer list any goods containing rhino horn for sale regardless of its origin, Agence France-Presse reported on Saturday. Three lots of antique rhino horn scheduled to be sold … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Hawaii’s National Park Is Re-Opening After the Eruption of a Lifetime

Kilauea volcano has quieted down considerably since August, and recovery efforts are now in full swing. That includes a major milestone coming up on September 22, when the National Park Service (NPS) is set to re-open parts of the colossal Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has been closed since shortly after the multi-month eruption began … Continued

EartherConservation

Huge, Maybe Ineffective Pollution Scooper Launches Towards Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Dutch nonprofit Ocean Cleanup deployed a 2,000-foot-long, $20 million unmanned boom designed to gather some of the Pacific Ocean’s massive amounts of plastic garbage from San Francisco Bay on Saturday. But it’s not clear the plan will work, the New York Times wrote. According to the Times, the buoyant structure is currently being hauled … Continued

EartherConservation

Cute Blue Bird From Rio Now Believed to Be Extinct in the Wild

Anyone who’s seen the funky movie Rio knows of the Spix’s macaw, the beautiful and goofy blue bird thought to be among the last of his kind in the film. While the character Blu succeeds in saving his species by falling in love and ultimately becoming a father, the reality isn’t nearly as sweet. The … Continued

EartherConservation

Grizzly Bears’ Future May Hinge on This Court Decision

This month, hunters in Wyoming and Idaho were going to have their first opportunity to shoot grizzly bears for sport in more than 40 years. But a court order last week put the kibosh on that, throwing the future of the controversial trophy hunt and the fate of the animals into uncertainty—at least for now. … Continued

Earther

Conservation Group Claims ‘Poaching Frenzy’ in Botswana, Government Denies It  [Updated]

In news that can only be described as horrific, the BBC reports that some 90 elephants have been killed in Botswana over the past several weeks, the result of a mass poaching spree that conservationists say is the worst ever recorded in Africa. The government of Botswana is disputing that claim. The remains of the … Continued

ScienceBiology

French Ban on Neonicotinoid Pesticides, Which Bees May Find Addictive, Goes Into Effect

A French ban on five neonicotinoid pesticides intended to protect the nation’s bees from colony collapse disorder went into effect on Saturday, Agence France-Press reported. Per AFP, the French rules ban all five neonicotinoid pesticides once cleared for use throughout the continent. Earlier this year, the European Union upheld a moratorium of three out of … Continued

EartherConservation

A Fight Over Killing Bobcats Is Raging Across the Midwest

This past spring, Ohio found itself at the epicenter of a fight over a long-lost predator that’s quietly making inroads across the Midwest: the bobcat. A controversial bobcat hunting proposal came to a head in May when sportsmen organizations squared off with conservationists over whether the population had rebounded enough to support a limited trapping … Continued

Tech NewsBest of the Week

Sleep Science, DIY Submarines, and Infectious Kissing Bugs: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

The end of summer is fast approaching, though the fun in the sun is coming to an even swifter conclusion for some of us: Take the tale of Paul Ceglia, the man who allegedly used forged documents naming him as a Facebook co-owner to try and rip off CEO Mark Zuckerberg in court. This week, … Continued

EartherConservation

Wow, Americans Are Selling a Lot of Dead Giraffes

A new report is drawing attention to fact that thousands of giraffe parts are imported into the U.S. for sale each year—which is extremely legal and fine according to U.S. and international law. Wait, what?! The report, which the Humane Society published Thursday following an investigation into the U.S. giraffe market, found that market to … Continued