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Scientists produce record rubidium-potassium BEC in microgravity, paving way for ISS lab
Scientists using the MAIUS-B apparatus have produced a rubidium-potassium dual-species Bose-Einstein condensate at a record particle flux.
Florida Python Challenge winner slayed 96 snakes
Veteran hunter Tom Rahill has battled the invasive species for over 10 years.
Butterflies Take Flight in Face of Climate Change and Extreme Weather
In 32 of the countries included in a recent study, at least a quarter of the native butterfly species had moved to new areas.
Museum Of Natural History & Science Researchers Identify New Bird-Like Dinosaur Species In Northwest New Mexico
Artwork by Sergey Krasovskiy. Courtesy/NMDCA NMDCA News: ALBUQUERQUE — Paleontologists from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science have identified a new genus of two-legged dinosaur that lived in New Mexico more than 70 million years ago. “This new work illustrates the dynamic nature of dinosaur studies as we continue to test what […]
New Mexico scientists identify new dinosaur species
Researchers at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science have identified a new bird-like dinosaur species from fossils discovered in northwestern New Mexico
Darwin Was Right: These Plants Are Carnivores
Scientists have proved that a species of plant covered with sticky hairs is carnivorous, confirming Darwin’s 150-year-old hunch.
There Were Actually Two Mass Extinctions During The Cretaceous, And The First One Is Looking Very Familiar
The dinosaurs went on unhindered, but 113 million years ago many marine species died out and the reasons have turned out to be very relevant right now.
Scientists Discover New Dinosaur Species In Zimbabwe, Shed Light On Early Evolution
The newly identified species, Musango matusadonaensis, lived in what is now northern Zimbabwe during the Late Triassic period.
How scientists finally confirmed rare pink seaweed as new species
An ancient algae first spotted four decades ago will now join the collection of the Natural History Museum.
Emerald Ash Borer Summer Update: Information, Action, and Community Science
Ash trees are being threatened by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive pest which has arrived in North America. Ash trees—which make up about 3% of all trees in Maine, an estimated 511 million trees—feed and support numerous species of insects, birds, and mammals, and are vital to Maine forests and communities. Once EAB has […]
Scientists found evolution repeating itself in the Galápagos Islands
More than 150 years after Darwin’s finches helped reshape biology, Galápagos plants are exposing another evolutionary surprise. Giant daisies repeatedly developed similar heat-tolerant leaf shapes, but each lineage used a different combination of genes. Researchers also found major genetic differences among isolated populations, suggesting new species may be forming right now.
After Hobbes vs Rousseau: Politics must move beyond human nature
Since the great debate between Hobbes and Rousseau, our political theory has been organised around a single question: is human nature essentially good or essentially corrupt? Graham Harman, the philosopher behind object-oriented ontology, argues that this is simply the wrong question to be asking. The real forces governing our collective fate - climate change, artificial intelligence, geography, and pandemics - are non-human; therefore, questions about human nature are not the central ones. Instead, Harman proposes a politics reorganised around our relationship to non-human objects and environments, in which quasi-government institutions incentivise and deter actions with the aim of extending the survival of the human race. “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” This has become one of the most popular phrases among twenty-first-century intellectuals. Often misattributed to Fredric Jameson, it has been warmly embraced by such influential authors as Slavoj Žižek and the tragically departed Mark Fisher, and has fueled the notion that the major problem with the political Left is that it simply needs to become more speculative and creative. Naturally, this is never a bad idea in any human pursuit. But what if the political distinction between Left, Right, and Center itself results from a failure of imagination? SUGGESTED READING Hobbes vs Rousseau: are we inherently evil? By Robin Douglass This particular division has been with us only since the summer of 1789. During the simmering prelude to the French Revolution, it referred originally to the physical position in the National Assembly of radical figures on one side and loyal monarchists on the other. These positions are linked with two entirely different camps of modern political theory. On the Left we find a series of authors ranging from the moderate (Locke) to the supercharged (Rousseau) to the truly radical (Marx), all of them contending that exploitation of the many by the few justifies revolutionary overthrow of the existing order. On the Right they are countered by the likes of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Schmitt, a group of thinkers convinced that corrupt human nature can be tamed only by force. In the words of the Nazi supporter Schmitt: “One could test all theories of nature and state and political ideas according to their anthropology and classify these as to whether they consciously or unconsciously presuppose [humans] to be by nature evil or by nature good.” This is the division we continue to face today, even in the daily retail politics of Western democracies.___Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims.___The most refreshing feature of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s 2021 book The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity was their awareness that the forced choice between Rousseau and Hobbes (as they put it) is no longer sufficient. Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims. Far from being stationed “beyond good and evil,” we seem to be fully entangled with both. We are not naturally good or evil, Graeber and Wengrow contend, but naturally experimental and imaginative. They rest their case on the archaeological record, which seems to bear witness to numerous episodes of seasonally shifting governments and festivals, which vacillate in the same society (even in the same year) between the egalitarian and the dictatorial. Such praise of political experiment makes a good fit with the generally anarchist position defended by these authors. Yet it is also what I find most disappointing in their position. Although they are right that the forced choice between Hobbes and Rousseau falls short of what our new situation requires, the authors simply replace it with praise for the human being as a political tinkerer and performer. In other words, they give us just another theory of human nature, one that would not have been out of place in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. What other options might we have?___The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature… We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them___One fresh approach would be to treat politics within a broader framework than human nature, given that the polis does not exist in a vacuum filled exclusively with people. When Bruno Latour went to observe the baboons of Kenya with the San Diego anthropologist Shirley Strum, they jointly concluded that these primates were more socially interdependent than our own species. Each baboon is so reliant on the dynamics of the group that they find themselves locked into constant surveillance of their potentially dangerous peers. The group structure turns out to be inherently volatile. Humans, by contrast, are able to stabilize their societies to a large degree through the mediation of inanimate objects. Although one’s position in society may seem to fluctuate over time, considerable stability is produced through such items as apartment keys, wedding rings, and identification cards, all of them serving to secure us a place distinct from that of our fellows. The Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris has written at length about the crucial role of documents in establishing social relations, making him a hero among notaries in his country. Proper names and license plates cement our position amidst other humans, as do symbolic achievements such as graduation from a top university or distinguished wartime service with its various medals and ribbons. None of this is found among baboons, despite their closeness to us on the evolutionary tree: after all, we did share a common ancestor just 25 to 30 million years ago. SUGGESTED VIEWING The goodness paradox With Richard Wrangham The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature, whether understood in the manner of the Left or of the Right. We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them. But initially, it is true, we face non-human things primarily in the form of constraints. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to form a human civilization underwater, deep underground, atop Mount Everest, or in outer space. Human dependence on the non-social background takes on subtler form in discussions of political geography, especially unloved on the more idealistic Left. Consider the luckless position of Poland during World War II, sandwiched between Hitler on one side and Stalin on the other. By contrast, note the good fortune of the United States in not having a military peer positioned on any land border. Anglo-American geopolitics, since the writings of the American naval commander Alfred Thayer Mahan and the British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, has been wedded to the notion that one or more liberal offshore naval powers should prevent any authoritarian “heartland” regime from gaining effective control of Eurasia. That remains the case whether the opponent is the impatient Napoleon, the swashbuckling German Kaiser, the villainous Hitler, the murderous Stalin, or the industrial juggernaut Chinese. In their current Foreign Affairs article “Heartland vs. Rimland,” Michael Beckley and Hal Brands analyze the current and coming state of the world on the basis of these same rather durable principles. In recent years a similar outlook has been embraced, in inverted form, by the Putin-loving Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, an icon of the Rightist intellectual underworld. For Dugin, the Anglo-Saxons are an evil force bent on destroying the spiritually superior people of the land: much like Athens in its failed war with Sparta, or Carthage in its eventual collapse against Rome. But the shared notion on both sides is that any strategy that fails to take geography into account is likely to end up as a defeated form of excessive optimism.___When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole.___More striking for us today than geography is the non-human object called climate, which threatens rimland and heartland equally. Even if we contend that humans are one hundred percent responsible for triggering the climate crisis, it remains non-human in the sense of being an independent force beyond our effective control. In a major work published just before his death in 2002, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, the American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould noted the tendency of evolutionary theorists to focus too closely on the fate of individuals in view of their successful or failed adaptation to circumstances. With climate change, however, we confront a force that goes well beyond the scope of any individual life. Whereas Richard Dawkins extended evolutionary questions downward from individuals to the sub-individual gene, Gould pushed it upward, speaking of entire species or clades as impacted by environmental change. The asteroid that struck the Yucatán 66 million years ago is only the most famous example of this sort. In the wake of that catastrophe, large animals needing abundant supplies of food were at a fatal disadvantage by contrast with the smaller birds and mammals of the planet. When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole. The effect is to shift our attention away from individual beings towards the survival of the group.In the United States in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked considerable backlash among those who asserted a nearly absolute degree of individual freedom. In California I encountered those who demanded that their businesses be allowed to reopen, that it was enough to cover their mouths but not their noses, or that they should have the right to enter any public area despite refusing vaccination. Yet public health is probably the clearest argument against libertarianism, which often merely asserts the autonomy of individuals against any claims of the commons. In normal times the individual is worth defending; under conditions that threaten the survival of part or all of our species, compulsion may be our only resort, as with perfectly reasonable blackouts and rations in wartime. To rebuild human society under the constraints of climate change will be one of the great challenges of the century to come, as will our improvised grappling with artificial intelligence. Such phenomena pose existential risks for humanity, and leave far less room for tolerance of individual brattiness. Cases are mounting of devastating wildfires caused by arson. Recently it was reported that there is even a website where one can bet on the location of coming wildfires, raising the specter of deliberate blazes set to collect on wagers. The death penalty has steadily lost support in a world where many stress the infinite value of human life. But if we focus instead on entire ecosystems, those who purposely burn the forests may begin to look worse than serial murderers.___The politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere.___So far I have spoken of force, authority, and punishment: measures sure to have greater appeal to those who identify with what we know as the Right. But other implications of the post-anthropocentric world are likely to have different backers. If non-human objects are seen as structuring political space, it stands to reason that they can no longer be introduced solely by the pace of technical breakthrough. Fields ranging from cybernetics to energy will demand increased politicization once they are reconceived not just as products of individual human investment, but as renovations of collective political geography. This need not involve world government, with its inherent risk of tyranny, but may involve quasi-governmental enforcers of prestige along the lines of a less corrupt FIFA or International Olympic Committee, punishing deviant states not with violence but with less tangible incentives.Politics will never lose its historic links with conflict and faction. But rather than factions aligned by differing theories of human nature, the politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere. This will prove just as incommensurable with the modern Left/Right spectrum as a globe is with a two-dimensional map.
Change could cripple Endangered Species Act, Minnesota science teacher says
The federal government’s decision to alter the definition of the word “harm” under the Endangered Species Act is a “stake through the heart” of the law, St. Cloud science teacher Devon Bowker — a.k.a. Devon the Nature guy — told MPR News.
Scientists look to shark DNA for the genetic signature of time
Aging leaves telltale marks on DNA, and for the first time, scientists have used those molecular signatures to create a model that predicts the age of sharks. This tool, known as an epigenetic clock, was developed for the zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) and could soon be expanded to more species,
Weiser’s leadership crucial for rural win-win
Attorney General Phil Weiser is going to win the gubernatorial election. That said, Colorado agriculture and rural communities have a 30-year track record of finding the win-win be it for species or industries or habitat. Former Governor Roy Romer possessed what Gov. Jared Polis has demonstrated repeatedly he doesn’t have: the willingness to find compromise […]
Spines of saber-toothed cats tell a tale of the doomed species
Remains pulled from the La Brea Tar Pits revealed deformed vertebrae and rare tumors, possible signs of inbreeding among now-extinct saber-toothed cats.
Citizen Science Reveals A Hidden Map Of Sharks And Rays In Mozambique
Citizen science data from iNaturalist reveal 44 species of sharks and rays in Mozambique, covering about a third of known national diversity. Most records are from southern regions and many species are threatened, highlighting both the power and the bias of crowd-sourced biodiversity data.
Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped as researchers discover 500 bacterial species previously unknown to science
Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different viruses
Scientists warn of potential global marine invasive species event linked to idle ships in the Strait of Hormuz
New research from an international team of 24 marine scientists, led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) and including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), ...
Some dinosaurs could rise like giants until they grew too big
Two elephant-sized South American sauropods were unusually well built for standing on their hind legs. Digital tests showed that their robust femurs handled the enormous forces better than those of larger species, especially while the dinosaurs were young. The upright pose may have helped them reach treetops, frighten predators, or impress potential mates.
Scientists have found an ancient sea worm with jaws made from a mysterious 'bio-metal' never encountered before, a discovery that could rewrite what we know about nature
Imagine you’re playing “20 Questions” and you start with the classic opener: “Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” Most of the time, a sea worm would be an easy answer: animal. But one particular marine species, the ancient and still-living bristle worm Perinereis cultrifera, complicates that simple choice.
Citizen Scientists Helped Decipher How Harvestmen Became Oddly Devoted Dads
Paternal care is vanishingly rare in the animal kingdom, yet one spider relative pulls it off repeatedly across thousands of species. Unlocking why required a surprising shortcut that compressed decad...
Tempo coach Sandy Brondello suspended 1 game by WNBA for 'protected species' remark about Angel Reese
This Week in Science: Tiny T. Rexes, a New Monkey Species, And More!
Our weekly science news roundup.
Scientists discover a ‘remarkable’ new monkey species with orange lips and a froglike roar
The new species, Colobus congoensis, may already be endangered
Orange-lipped monkey that roars and snorts deep in Congo rainforest is new species to science
A striking new monkey species, Colobus congoensis, was discovered deep in the Congo rainforest and has been scientifically described for the first time.
Vanderbilt Health physicians treating more patients with tick bites this year
Six medically important tick species live in the state, and many Tennesseans encounter ticks in their own yard or neighborhood. Perhaps attributable to changing weather patterns and rising temperatures, Vanderbilt Health’s Emergency Medicine physicians around the region began treating patients with tick bites in March this year.
Scientists are deep-freezing koala eggs and sperm to protect the species from extinction
Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia want to freeze koala sex cells in liquid nitrogen, which could preserve the DNA for decades until we need it, an expert said.
Scientists discovered 31 new deep-sea species off Brazil
Meet some of the 31 new species scientists have identified in what could be record time, off the coast of Brazil.
Two giant Asian praying mantis species are spreading across Europe, helped by climate change and urbanisation, and scientists warn they are threatening pollinators, frogs and lizards
Two giant Asian praying mantis species are rapidly spreading across Europe, leading scientists to officially classify them as invasive threats to native wildlife.
Off Brazil, scientists discover 31 new midwater species, including a gossamer worm and creepy fish
The deep ocean can feel more like science fiction than part of our own planet.
Scientists finally solved the mystery of Earth's greatest mass extinction
Why do beaches today have seashells from clams and snails instead of brachiopods? A new study suggests the answer lies in Earth's greatest mass extinction, when warming oceans and falling oxygen levels wiped out animals that couldn't adapt. Species with body plans and metabolisms better suited to the changing conditions survived and went on to dominate the seas, offering a glimpse of how modern marine life could respond to climate change.
Scientists warn invasive Asian mantises are threatening Europe's wildlife
Two striking Asian praying mantis species that have rapidly spread across Europe have now been officially classified as invasive, raising new concerns about their impact on native wildlife. Boosted by climate change and urban environments, these fast-breeding predators are expanding northward, where they prey on native insects, pollinators, and even small vertebrates while also reducing native mantis populations through deadly mating interactions.
Australia's huntsman fastest spider on record, new study suggests
A species of huntsman spider found in Queensland is the fastest mover out of more than 250 spider species analysed in a new study.
Scientists discovered that some invasive tropical plants evolved to reproduce without partners after spreading to new countries, allowing a single plant to start an entire takeover
Just one plant species can be enough to trigger an ecological invasion. Studies have shown that some tropical plants have evolved to reproduce without a mate, allowing a single individual to start a new colony.
FORT Updates: From Plains to Peaks
This issue highlights recent FORT efforts to provide streamlined, robust science for natural resource management, including science in support of invasive species management, wildfire risk mitigation, and wildlife health. It also features ongoing research on state-of-the-art technology for wildlife monitoring, traffic estimation, and more.
Bumblebees collect up to 7 times more toxic metals than honeybees
Bumblebees are picking up dramatically more toxic heavy metals than honeybees, even when both species forage in the same places. Researchers warn that this hidden pollution could quietly reduce their ability to find food, reproduce, and keep colonies healthy.
UMass Lowell business students help an endangered species: Duckpin bowling
UMass Lowell business students in the Manning School’s Mill City Consulting course helped modernize North Chelmsford Lanes, one of only two remaining duckpin bowling alleys in Massachusetts, while preserving the qualities that have made it …
New research traces how ‘forever chemicals’ move through the Great Lakes and into people
The study used more than 40 years of data to map fluctuating PFAS levels across species in the region's food chain.
A scientist built 200 hotels for bees. Three years later, the guests he found changed what we know about pollinators and biodiversity
Hotels are usually built for travellers, but some are designed for creatures no bigger than your thumb. Scientists and conservationists have spent years creating these miniature refuges for wild bees in the form of small nesting structures fitted with narrow tunnels that mimic the hollow stems and cavities many solitary bee species naturally use to lay their eggs.
31 alien-like marine species discovered off the coast of Brazil
A ghostly squid, speedy gossamer worm, and more dwell 600 to 3,300 feet beneath the waves.
31 alien-like marine species discovered off the coast of Brazil
A ghostly squid, speedy gossamer worm, and more dwell 600 to 3,300 feet beneath the waves.
Science Notes: Assisted Migration and Climate Change
As climate change reshapes habitats, assisted migration is gaining attention as a tool to help vulnerable species adapt, with New York considering legislation to support these efforts.
Scrolling for science: How a Twitter post discovered a new wasp in Fukuoka, Japan
Researchers at Kyushu University recently identified a wasp species, Eupelmus curvator, in Japan for the first time after citizen scientists posted photos of it on Twitter (now X), marking both a new national record and the first formal description of the male of the species. The discovery highlights the growing role of social media in biodiversity research, allowing scientists to tap into observations from the public that would otherwise go unnoticed.
66 billion trees have been planted in China's Great Green Wall — and they appear to be growing faster than natural forests
A study of China's planted and natural forests reveals age, species mix, and CO2 sensitivity all contribute to how fast trees sprout leaves.
New estimate: Earth has 14 to 20 million insect species
For 40 years, we thought Earth was home to six million insect species. Turns out, it could be three times that.
Scientists Baffled by Discovery of Rare “Pink Floyd” Spider Hidden in Home Walls - Futura-Sciences
The Birth of a “Pink Floyd” Spider Tiny, discreet, and quietly settled on urban walls, a new species of spider was recently discovered in Colombia—and christened as a tribute to the iconic rock band Pink Floyd. As part of a study published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, South American...
Early Homo sapiens may have lived in rainforests, new clues suggest — and it could overturn our understanding of human evolution
The long-held idea that rainforests held a minor role in our species' evolution is changing — and our ability to adapt to these tropical areas may give insight about 'what it means to be uniquely human.'
“Absolutely huge” 400-year-old black coral stuns scientists in New Zealand
A giant black coral estimated to be 300–400 years old has been discovered deep in Fiordland, New Zealand, astonishing researchers with its enormous size—about 4 meters tall and 4.5 meters wide. Scientists say it may be one of the largest black corals ever recorded in New Zealand waters and an important stronghold for the slow-growing species.
Scientists identify New Walking Shark Species With Morse Code-like Markings
A shark long known to Papua New Guinea communities has finally been confirmed by DNA as a species new to science.
Invasive ticks confirmed in Connecticut, pose health risks
Two invasive tick species, the Lone Star tick and the Asian longhorned tick, have been confirmed in Connecticut.
Behind this “ordinary snake,” scientists stunned by a hidden new species - Futura-Sciences
A Mysterious Snake Revealed Researchers from the Chengdu Institute of Biology, partnering with the Giant Panda National Park, have officially described a new species of tree viper: Trimeresurus lii, affectionately dubbed the Huaxi green viper. The discovery was made in early 2025 and published in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and...
Hidden bird species discovered in Japan after DNA reveals a stunning secret
A bird long thought to be a single rare species in Japan has turned out to be two. Scientists discovered that the elusive Ijima’s Leaf Warbler and a newly identified Tokara Leaf Warbler look almost identical, but their DNA and songs reveal they are distinct species. The finding marks Japan’s first new bird species discovery in more than 40 years and highlights how modern genetic tools are uncovering hidden biodiversity that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Two marsupial species once known to science only from fossils, and thought lost for more than 6,000 years, have been confirmed alive in the rainforests of New Guinea’s Vogelkop Peninsula — a discovery made possible by old museum specimens, rare field photographs, fossil fragments and the knowledge of Indigenous Tambrauw and Maybrat elders.
Two marsupials known to science only from fossils, and presumed gone for more than 6,000 years, have turned out to be alive in the rainforests of the Vogelkop Peninsula in Indonesian Papua. The finding was published in March in the Records of the Australian Museum, and it leaned less on a lucky expedition than on […]
Butterfly that barely ages could help unlock longevity secrets
Scientists discovered that Heliconius butterflies have evolved an extraordinary lifespan, living several times longer than closely related species. Even more surprising, some show little sign of physical decline as they age. Their unusual pollen-feeding lifestyle may play a role, but the research suggests deeper evolutionary changes are also helping them stay healthy for longer.
Perry: Minnesota waters are full of ancient fish ― and the science behind them is pretty cool
Contributing columnist David M. Perry joined the U’s GarLab team on an electrofishing expedition June 15 to learn more about gar and other native rough fish species.
The secret language behind animal cooperation
Animals from different species often rely on surprisingly sophisticated communication to work together, whether finding food, cleaning parasites, or gaining protection. New research suggests these interspecies “conversations” are flexible, evolved, and far more important to life in nature than scientists once realized.
Scientists discover a new species of 'walking' shark
A shark that can follow you onto land? Luckily, the “walking shark” poses no threat to humans at all. Now, scientists have discovered a new species of this type.
DNA time stamps reveal the strawberry’s surprising origins
Researchers have created a new way to reconstruct the evolutionary history of complex plant genomes by analyzing genetic traces left by transposable elements. The technique revealed that modern strawberries were assembled through multiple ancient genome-merging events, shedding new light on how major crop species evolved.
Scientists uncover a deep-sea coral kingdom almost the size of Vatican City
Across the broader survey area, researchers collected 28 species that they suspect are new to science.
A textbook assumption about early land vertebrates may be wrong
Three species that lived about 308 million years ago challenge the idea that the first land vertebrates underwent amphibian-like metamorphosis.
Scientists probing dim ocean zone find 31 new species and capture a living microbe in 3D
Entire forms of life may have been misunderstood or overlooked for years.
Scientists discover spider that disguises itself as a parasitic fungus
Scientists have discovered a new Amazonian spider with an astonishing disguise: it looks like a parasitic fungus. The species, Taczanowskia waska, mimics both the appearance and behavior of the fungus, helping it stay hidden from predators and potentially catch prey more easily.
Designing The Future 3: Inside The Ocean Expedition That Used Lasers To Discover 31 New Species
The Designing the Future 3 expedition used 3D laser scanning to study gelatinous deep-sea animals in their natural habitat, building a new blueprint for how we document ocean life.
Walking shark found in Papua New Guinea is new to science
Hemiscyllium dudgeonae is the tenth recorded species of walking shark, which use their pectoral fins to move across reef flats, and its limited range means it may be at high risk of extinction
A career of taking biological species for a spin
Nature Reviews Chemistry - Ahead of his 70th birthday, Adriaan (Ad) Bax, Distinguished Investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), spoke about his career in science.
Lucy’s hunter revealed: Giant crocodile terrorized early human ancestors
A newly identified crocodile species nicknamed “Lucy’s hunter” prowled Ethiopia’s rivers when Lucy’s species walked the Earth more than 3 million years ago. The giant predator was likely the most dangerous animal in the ecosystem and may have regularly hunted early human relatives.
Coastal Bird Science and Monitoring
Providing leadership and serving as a catalyst for advancements in avian science and protection of priority bird species by strengthening monitoring, research, and knowledge transfer.
Scientists stunned by two-headed worms—now they’re multiplying without limits - Futura-Sciences
The Unusual Reproduction of Stenostomum brevipharyngium Meet Stenostomum brevipharyngium, a microscopic flatworm that has no need for romance or even a partner when it comes to making more of its kind. This species reproduces by paratomy, an asexual process in which a new worm forms from the middle section of...
Scientists discover ‘graveyard’ of whale skeletons in an ocean abyss off Australia
Deposited over millions of years, the whale necropolis is covered with deep-sea species, many of which are new to science.
Sex jumpstarted Earth’s animal biodiversity
Many species didn’t have much sex for millions of years. They didn’t need it.
These underwater 'living pink rocks' help store carbon: Scientists just found four new species
Rhodoliths may look like small rocks on the seafloor, but they are actually living algae that create habitats for marine life and contribute to long-term carbon storage. A new study found that the deeper, ...
Scientists Say All Life on Earth May Follow the Same Temperature Rule
Despite its incredible diversity, there is a universal tie between all life on Earth, regardless of species. This unifying trend is found throughout different species and even across kingdoms, whether...
Scientists confirm more than two dozen new marine species off Brazilian coast within days
"The largest habitat on Earth, the midwater, is filled with incredible animals we are only just starting to understand."
How Lander's 'Mushroom Man’ Turned Rabbit Poop Project Into Big Science
A project digging through rabbit poop led mycologist Jack States — aka Lander's Mushroom Man — to discover a famous mold and 12 new species of truffles.…
Scientists Discover Strange New Spider Species That Disguises Itself as a Fungus
Scientists have discovered a new spider species in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest that uses an unprecedented form of mimicry.
Toxic pollutant from car tires reaching San Francisco Bay, scientists say
A scientific research group here in the Bay Area is generating new evidence about another type of pollution caused not just by cars, but by their tires. It's a chemical known as 6PPD-Q, which is so toxic to some species of fish that it's believed that a single drop in a swimming pool could be fatal.
LocaL student wins first place at Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair for her nature, bird-inspired research project
Captivated by a small lemon-lime songbird perched outside The Rhoades Middle School, sixth-grader Adhara Sethee was eager to focus on the species for an upcoming research project, seeking research data from the Encinitas-based Nature…
Scientists race to collect the last seeds from a critically endangered tree before it goes extinct
Seeds from the last surviving wild Dendroseris neriifolia tree are now stored in Kew Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank as researchers work to find ways to reintroduce the species into the wild.
In the Smoky Mountains, a volunteer effort aims to document every species
For citizen scientists, counting thousands of species is one way to monitor climate change in America's most biodiverse national park.
Goethe never knew this 40-million-year-old ant was hidden in his collection
Scientists examining amber from Goethe’s personal collection discovered three hidden fossil insects, including an extinct ant preserved in extraordinary detail. Advanced 3D imaging allowed researchers to see not only the ant’s outer features but also structures inside its body. The findings offer new clues about the species’ biology and suggest it likely built large nests in trees.
Beluga whales keep switching mates and it may be saving their species
Hidden beneath Arctic waters, beluga whales have long kept their family lives a mystery. By analyzing DNA from more than 600 belugas in Alaska’s Bristol Bay over 13 years, researchers uncovered a surprisingly flexible mating system: both males and females regularly have offspring with different partners over their lifetimes.
Scientists are cracking the code of interspecies communication. Is that a good thing?
Bioacousticians are finding animal communication patterns once thought unique to humans — discoveries that challenge ideas about what makes human language special.
Fluorescent spider and armored cricket among incredible discoveries in Angola
Dozens of species unknown to science have been recorded by a survey of the Lisima plateau in Angola’s highlands.
Ebola outbreak: How health workers are treating patients and staying safe in DR Congo
There are currently no approved drugs that target Bundibugyo - the species of Ebola responsible for this outbreak.
Research roundup: 7 cool science stories we almost missed
Prehistoric mining in the Pyrenees, a new species of tiny blue octopus, slapstick acoustics, and more.
The right seafood choices can help diets meet health and climate goals
Fish can support healthy and sustainable diets, especially when it replaces red and processed meat rather than adding to overall animal-food intake. However, its environmental value depends on species, production system, supply chain, local dietary patterns, and the scale of greenhouse gas reductions required.
'Hugely significant:' Citizen scientists find over 1,100 species in Scotland's declining rainforest
"It helps us find fragments of rainforest that we maybe didn't know existed."
Hidden in plain sight: DNA reveals 15 overlooked coral lineages in the Indo-Pacific
Scientists have discovered that one of the ocean's most recognizable corals, the iconic “organ pipe coral” — long believed to be a single widespread species — includes at least 15 genetically distinct lineages. Two of these lineages are currently known only from the Red Sea. The findings, publish
DNA solves 250-year-old mystery of the Seychelles’ lost crocodiles
Scientists have solved the mystery of the Seychelles’ vanished crocodiles using DNA from historic museum specimens. The reptiles were not a unique species after all, but an isolated population of saltwater crocodiles that likely drifted thousands of kilometers across the Indian Ocean.
UToledo Scientists Develop New Method to Estimate Hidden Species
The new model for collecting species data within ecosystems is published in the May issue of Ecological Informatics.
‘Never seen anything like it.’ Scientists discover brand new species of octopus.
Scientists discovered what they're calling the Microeledone galapagensis, a new octopus species with odd coloring and an even odder location.
The Viruses Causing New Outbreaks Are Much Less Familiar to Science
The types of Ebola and hantavirus panicking officials are very different from the species identified decades ago, raising new questions about how to respond.
Ebola, chemical plants and health, hantavirus, common colds, heat and more
As they say, bugs have ears. Public health has had a relentless May. Chemical plant (near) explosions, Ebola, hantavirus, and that's before you even get to the usual suspects: common colds, heat, and ticks. Here’s an attempt to keep you up to speed and, more importantly, what it means for you and your community. But first, an announcement: World Cup The World Cup starts in 15 days (not like anyone is counting down), and we are hanging TVs in the Health Security Operations Center. It’s going to be a gorgeous, chaotic celebration of basically every culture on earth. And it’s going to take a team effort—from communities to individuals, from public health to health care—to keep people healthy. That’s where you come in. If you’re going to the games or live within 30 miles of a stadium, we would love to hear from you. Sign up for a weekly survey here. Thanks to the more than 1,280 people who have already signed up…you will be hearing from us soon!! Global disease “weather report” Hantavirus: Two more cases The global count of cruise ship passengers with hantavirus has now increased to 13 cases (11 confirmed), with three deaths. The two new cases are overseas and among people who were already quarantining: A crew member in the Netherlands. A Spanish national passenger who was quarantining at home tested positive through daily monitoring. They are now in a biocontainment unit. In the U.S., everyone remains negative. There may be more cases, given that the incubation period of hantavirus (the time from exposure to infection) is 45 days. But this week, we will reach a major milestone: the median incubation window is 18 days, and that will pass on May 29. What this means for you: Your risk from this cruise ship outbreak remains essentially nil at this point. Ebola rages on in Central Africa Big thanks to Dr. Craig Spencer, a humanitarian physician who has treated and survived Ebola, for jumping in to provide the YLE community with an update. Craig, take it from here… The combined confirmed and suspected Ebola cases in DRC are now more than 1,000. All signs are pointing to a very long and catastrophic outbreak in Central Africa: This is a vast undercount. We know this because the test positivity rate is hovering around 50%, only 20% of contacts are being traced (and in some areas, no contacts at all), and more cases keep popping up with no known connection. This all points to widespread and undetected community transmission. This is in only a week of detection. Compared to previous outbreaks, the growth is very fast, as the huge West Africa outbreak in 2016 was first detected at 49 cases and rose to 208 cases a month later. It took four months for that outbreak to reach the size of the current one in the DR Congo. The cases are spread out across 16 health zones. There are now multiple epicenters, making containment very difficult. Next door in Uganda, the case count is seven. While this number is low compared to DRC, a concerning development is that two health care workers recently tested positive with uncertain exposure histories. If they weren’t treating known Ebola cases, this means it’s spreading undetected in Uganda as well. On the ground, backlash, including the burning of health centers, has emerged, a pattern seen in nearly every outbreak and rooted in deep community distrust. It often stems from outside actors working in communities without fully understanding or addressing local priorities. Affected populations may recognize the severity of Ebola while still holding other concerns as more pressing, such as where their loved ones are buried. Community trust is essential to an effective response, but difficult to build during an active emergency. It is best established long before a crisis begins. U.S. priorities are made clear, and may backfire. The U.S. Administration has shown that its first priority is keeping Ebola out, with helping end the outbreak in the DRC a secondary concern. That's meant travel restrictions broader than anything we've imposed before — covering travelers from across the region, and reportedly some green card holders and permanent residents as well. For example, just these past two days, news broke that high-risk American travelers will be subject to a mandatory quarantine in Kenya before they are allowed to return. If an American is infected, the U.S. government plans to send them to a hospital it is standing up from scratch in Kenya. (Currently, Americans who were in the area are allowed to return but are diverted to three airports—Houston, Atlanta, and DC—for further screening.) Past administrations have used travel notices and stepped-up screening; this goes much further. At first blush, these strict precautions may sound prudent. But this approach could backfire in three ways: Restrictions this blunt give people every reason to hide where they’ve been and whom they’ve been near — making the people we most need to find harder to track, not easier. They also breed a false sense that this is someone else’s problem. But diseases are humbling. They find the small cracks in even the most impenetrable-seeming defenses. Lives lost. There is no treatment for this Ebola strain, which means survival depends heavily on the quality of the health system. We have that system in the States, but we are choosing not to use it for infected Americans. This is unbelievable and infuriating. (See a deeper dive from me here.) The only real way to lower the risk to Americans — and everyone else — is to end the outbreak in the DRC and across the region. What this means for you: If you have travel plans to this region, it’s time to cancel them. This is a high-risk situation in Central Africa, and CDC released a Level 4 Travel Advisory. There is also great uncertainty if and when the Administration will let you back in. To the general public in the U.S., your risk remains very, very low right now. U.S. disease “weather report” Ticks: past peak season? Good news, especially for people in the Northeast and Midwest: tick numbers continue to decline. Though we are at the peak of the season, this unusually early year is trending favorably. Heat-related illnesses in the North Heat risk is certainly not blanketing the entire country yet, but this week it will be moderate in the Midwest and the Southeast. What this means for you: Be sure to check the CDC HeatRisk tool. A red day isn’t the best day for that soccer game for a kid with asthma, and a stretch of orange days is a great time to check on your elderly neighbor. Common colds surging As far as respiratory viruses go, the only thing really going around right now is the common cold. It is higher this year than last year, but should peak very soon before returning this fall. Spotlight: Chemical plants Over the weekend, YLE California covered the serious situation that unfolded around a chemical plant in Orange County, California. Thankfully, the worst-case scenario (a chemical explosion) was mitigated, but only through luck. The health implications in a densely populated area could have been catastrophic. As the situation was winding down, another chemical explosion struck Washington State. This one was fatal. Health officials say the risk to surrounding residents from chemicals in the air and ground remains low, though the community deserves far greater clarity. Clean air and clean water consistently rank as Americans’ top public health concerns — yet when chemical disasters strike, communities are too often met with reassurances rather than transparency and accountability. Residents near the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, for example, are still waiting to understand the long-term impact on their health, with few clear answers. What this means for you: Many are wondering if facilities processing potentially dangerous materials are in their neighborhoods. This interactive map allows you to enter your ZIP code and see all facilities monitored by the EPA, including any violations. Good news Ebola vaccines and treatment for the Bundibugyo species are in development. Two vaccine platforms are being explored, at least one of which may be deployable in as little as 2 months. One vaccine is being developed by Oxford, and the other uses the same biotechnology as the FDA-approved Zaire species of Ebola. (It may provide cross-protection, but it’s unclear at this point.) On the treatment side, two promising monoclonal antibody cocktails are likely to be deployed, though doses are limited and logistical hurdles remain significant challenges. Anni over at The Biotech Tea had a great explainer about the Ebola vaccine gap, if you want to read more. [ The Biotech Tea The Ebola vaccine gap, reading vessel damage, & the Makary exit 🗝️ Paid subscribers get the Biotech Term of the Week at $30/year (~$2.50/month). I try to keep it intentionally accessible, but if cost is ever a barrier, send me a message. A few people asked about expensing your subscription, so I put together a short email template… Read more 6 days ago · 10 likes · Annicka Evans, PhD ](https://www.thebiotechtea.com/p/the-ebola-vaccine-gap-reading-vessel?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been officially renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), following more than a decade of debate and input from roughly 22,000 clinicians, researchers, and patients worldwide. This is good because the old name was medically misleading, leading to patients without visible cysts being dismissed or overlooked entirely. The WHO estimates that 70% of people with the condition remain undiagnosed. A more accurate name should improve recognition, reduce stigma, and ultimately help the millions of people living with this condition get diagnosed and treated sooner. Poll Loading... Bottom line Public health situations are everywhere right now. Staying healthy takes public health professionals and systems working tirelessly behind the scenes and each of us showing up for our neighbors and communities. Love, YLE Big thanks to Ed Nirenberg for staying on top of the Ebola vaccines, Hannah Totte for all the figures, Dr. Craig Spencer for the Ebola insight, and Dr. Matt Willis for covering the chemical situation in CA. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “Translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
Adorable Tiny Octopus Found Near the Galápagos Is Finally Named After 11 Years
Scientists used CT scans to identify a rare deep-sea species without cutting it open.
Why did T. rex have tiny arms? A new study may finally have the answer
An analysis of 85 dinosaur species shows that tiny forearms in meat-eating dinosaurs were the result of an evolutionary trade-off.
Map showing the distribution of the georeferenced species records.
Map showing the distribution of the georeferenced species records. Points were differentiated by colours, based on the sea upon which they lie: Tyrrhenian Sea (light blue), Ionian Sea (red) and Adriatic Sea (blue).
Adorable tiny blue octopus found nearly 6,000 feet beneath the Galápagos
A mysterious little blue octopus discovered nearly 6,000 feet beneath the waters of the Galápagos Islands has officially been identified as a brand-new species. About the size of a golf ball, the tiny creature stunned researchers during a deep-sea expedition when it suddenly appeared on camera, crawling across the ocean floor near an underwater mountain.
Bond breakout? Big effects of bad data. Immigration and thermostatic politics & dad-chat is coming for dad-books.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. Anna Airy, A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918 Bond breakout - John Authers Across the developed markets, bond markets are staging a slow-motion car wreck. Looking at the drastic moves in the US, Japan, the UK and France, Barclays’ Ajay Rajadhyaksha commented: “Last week, long bonds broke. Not in one country. In all of them. Simultaneously. Four countries. Four different political systems. Four different central banks. But the same trade — “get me out of duration!”” Each country has its own contributing political problems, but the uniformity of the shift out of long-term bonds with high duration makes clear that something broader is afoot. For Rajadhyaksha, it is “simple and uncomfortable.” The developed world “has too much debt, too little fiscal discipline, and no political appetite for fixing either.” If there’s a trigger, it has been the Iran war and the resulting shock to oil supply. Source: Bloomberg G7 countries are now borrowing at rates that were enjoyed by EM in the early 2020s For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Trade between China and Russia has grown in recent years For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Big effects of bad data A decade ago nearly nine in ten Americans, when approached, agreed to fill out the Current Population Survey, which is administered to about 60,000 households each month and asks about, among other things, employment. Fewer than seven in ten do so now (see chart 1). For the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which tries to capture 3,700 households monthly, the response rate is down from 68% to 40%. … When the information becomes less reliable, investment decisions get more difficult to make. Some may be delayed, creating a potential drag on the economy. A new working paper by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University, Erica Groshen, former head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) now at Cornell University, and Duncan Hobbs and Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, hazards an estimate. Preserving trust in “the integrity and quality of official statistics”, the authors claim, generates economic benefits of about $25 for every $1 spent on the BLS, the agency with an annual budget of $700m that is responsible for many of these data. To arrive at their conclusion the quartet analysed an ignoble episode in the BLS’s recent history. On August 1st 2025 Donald Trump sacked Erika McEntarfer, appointed as the agency’s commissioner by his predecessor, Joe Biden. The president alleged, without evidence, that the BLS’s steep downward revision to recent jobs numbers had been “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad”. In fact, it was the wanton dismissal that looked bad in the eyes of many observers. In the following seven days there was a 50% leap, relative to the week before, in the average value of the index of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), which tracks the number of articles mentioning such uncertainty that are published daily in American newspapers. This was a discernible jump even when compared to the chaos caused by Mr Trump’s trade war in April 2025 and his real one in Iran in the past two months (see chart 2). Based on Mr Bloom’s earlier study with other colleagues of the EPU’s impact on business investment, industrial production and employment, the authors estimate that the jump reduced American GDP by over $100bn (0.3%) and non-farm payrolls by 168,000 (0.1%). Source: The Economist Immigration and thermostatic politics (Sarah O’Connor in the FT) A strange thing happened a year and a half ago. No sooner had Americans elected Donald Trump as president on an explicitly anti-immigration platform than US public opinion began to swing much more favourably towards immigration. … to political scientists who study “thermostatic” politics, this development is no surprise at all. Public opinion often moves against the prevailing party, especially if they are perceived to have gone “too far” in one direction. The phenomenon was first explored in the 1990s with reference to fiscal policy, but in recent years it has been particularly evident in the realm of immigration policy. While these swings in opinion polls can make it seem as if people don’t know their own minds, they can be a useful democratic check on governments by sending bright flashing warning lights when policies stray too far from the public’s comfort zone. The problem comes when politicians misinterpret those signals. When people tell pollsters they want less immigration, or think it is bad for the country overall (or the converse), they are often expressing an opinion about how things appear to be going in that moment relative to their preferences, rather than a deep shift in their underlying views. According to Alexander Kustov, a political scientist, most Americans’ views are quite stable and moderate: they support immigration that is controlled and in the national interest, and oppose flows that are disorderly or under-enforced. In the US, he argues the Trump administration over-interpreted dissatisfaction with high immigration under Joe Biden, and implemented policies that went too far for many voters. “People don’t necessarily change their idea about their ideal immigration policy, but they can react to what the government is currently doing,” he told me. “A lot of people are not happy with what the Trump administration are doing — right now we’re not talking about border enforcement, we’re talking about people not just getting harassed, but killed.” But similarly, he added, pro-immigration advocates would be making a mistake to interpret the recent, more favourable swing towards immigration as a deep-seated ideological shift in attitudes. The recent history of UK immigration policy offers another cautionary tale. After the 2016 Brexit referendum, public concern about immigration fell. This was partly because net migration statistics declined, but also because people felt a sense of catharsis and control, says Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a think-tank. By 2019, the public ranked immigration as only the ninth biggest issue of concern, according to Ipsos polling. But when the Conservative government liberalised visa routes for students and care workers between 2019 and 2022, that helped net migration to surge. And so, too, did public concern. Today’s Labour government has implemented another sharply restrictive turn in immigration policy. As Kustov and researcher Caitlyn Yates argue, thermostatic public opinion should be a useful check on politicians. Instead it seems to have helped to magnify the pendulum swing in the UK. The government over-interprets and overreacts to a change in public opinion, which reacts in turn, prompting a sudden swing the other way. Source: Financial Times HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $50. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe Anna Airy, Shop for Machining 15-Inch Shells: Singer Manufacturing Company, Clydebank, Glasgow, 1918 Racing for a vaccine … we have been here before! The deadly Ebola outbreak in two African countries driven by a virus species with no vaccine has triggered an urgent search for a potential jab, in a test of troubled global efforts to avert threats posed by emerging diseases. A World Health Organization advisory group is due to would meet on Tuesday to recommend candidate jabs to prioritise for clinical trials, the global health body said. It will assess data including an analysis by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which was set up after failures in the international response to a previous Ebola crisis. The latest Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has infected hundreds of people and killed more than 80, health authorities say. Cepi’s reaction will be a crucial indicator of its progress towards its wider goal of producing vaccines for pandemic threats in just 100 days, despite steep cuts to international health funding. “If there was ever a time that we could show the world why Cepi is needed and show the world why the 100-day mission is needed, it’s now,” Nicole Lurie, the organisation’s executive director for preparedness and response, told the FT. “We’re happy to accept that responsibility, but obviously we need help from partners — particularly financial help in the long run.” DR Congo and Uganda would make the final decision on whether to press ahead with any vaccine candidates endorsed for clinical trials by the WHO experts, the global health body said. “Other ethical and community acceptability issues will be considered,” said the WHO, which declared the latest outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday. “This will be important to make sure that the trial, if it happens, will be adequately communicated to the population.” Lurie said Cepi had provided information from a survey of research teams and companies working on drugs that might be effective against the Bundibugyo virus behind the outbreak. The organisation hoped soon to announce partners in the quest for a jab, she added, although she declined to give a timescale for when one might be developed. Cepi’s Nicole Laurie said global health bodies were ‘getting some live-fire drills’ with hantavirus and the latest Ebola outbreak. The hunt for a vaccine should be helped by scientific advances including the use of artificial intelligence to find drugs active against viruses, Lurie said. Existing jabs against the Zaire Ebola virus responsible for many previous outbreaks might provide a basis for tackling the Bundibugyo species, she added. “We’ll see how far and how fast we can get,” Lurie said, adding that Cepi had done preliminary work recently on a possible jab for the rat-borne hantavirus responsible for a recent fatal outbreak on a cruise ship. “Both with hantavirus and now with Ebola, [we] are getting some live-fire drills.” Source: Michael Peel in the Financial Times Dad-chat is coming for dad-books. (By Pamela Paul and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in the WSJ) They were the go-to gifts for Father’s Day: a book about some little-known chapter of World War II, the sweeping narrative of a shipwreck, perhaps the latest presidential biography. These days, dad books are a dying breed. Nonfiction book sales have been in decline for the past four years, and are now the most challenged segment of the print book market. Publishers say certain types of books still fare well—including celebrity memoirs and religious titles. But in recent years, print sales in such categories as biography, current affairs and business and economics—what publishers refer to as “serious nonfiction” and which tend to resonate especially with men—have fallen considerably. Sales of nonfiction print titles were down nearly 8% through May 9 this year, and sales of books about politics and current affairs were down 19%, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. Publishing has long been subject to cyclical changes, with trends in format and genre taking over bookshelves in grand sweeps. (Remember the adult coloring-book craze? Or the stratospheric rise of romantasy?) But many in publishing believe the decline in serious nonfiction is more existential. “The trend couldn’t be clearer,” said Jonathan Karp, the former chief executive of Simon & Schuster and publisher of the new Simon Six imprint. “This is a sea change and people should wake up and realize we’re living in a new world.” One culprit for the shift: a new media diet for fans of more serious nonfiction. … Sixty-two percent of men and 54% of women consumed a podcast in the prior month, according to a recent survey by Edison Research at SSRS, up from 46% and 39%, respectively, in 2023. “When we have internal meetings to talk about this problem, it always comes around to podcasts,” said Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher of the Harper Group at HarperCollins Publishers. “The man who wants to read American history is now tuning into one of the many good podcasts about history that lends the quiet attention to a serious subject he’s looking for. It makes the idea of sitting down with a 700-page Ron Chernow book less appealing. You’ve scratched that itch.” Source: Wall Street Journal Remarkable report by Novara from the nationalist rally in London in mid May. Anna Airy, Leopard Moth and Plums, 1915 If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
New York Boat Stewards Return to 220+ Launches Statewide
Boaters and anglers are being urged to take extra steps to stop the spread of invasive species in New York’s waters.