innovators Archives - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

Community Conservation: Love and Hope in Action

2.5-minute read

And just like that, it’s December…

Before we give Wild & Wondrous a holiday rest, we’d like to dedicate one of the last posts of the year to one of our favorite topics: community conservation—local communities working together to restore nature and protect wildlife. This rights-based, bottom-up approach to preserving global biodiversity is one of the most effective strategies for healing our planet. What makes it work? It’s low cost, it’s flexible, and it benefits both people and endangered species. What’s not to love?

From the Florida Keys to the Amazon rainforest to the savannahs of East Africa, innovative conservation organizations are empowering local communities to protect the land and seascapes that sustain them and native wildlife and support the healthy functioning of ecosystems.

One of the most impactful community-based conservation organizations operating today and an all-around, results-oriented top pick that inspires us throughout the year is Big Life Foundation. Whether you’re new to their work or already a fan and can spare a moment to be re-enthused, we’d like to share some highlights about how they do what they do so well.

Big Life’s team of 500-plus rangers protects and secures wildlife and critical habitat across 1.6 million acres across the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem in East Africa. Home to an amazing variety of wildlife like African bush elephants, impalas, lions, cheetahs, Masai giraffes, Grant’s zebras, and eastern black rhinos, Big Life’s area of operation is one of the most important habitats left in Africa.

The secret to Big Life’s effectiveness is they understand that the only way to protect wildlife and wildlands is to win the hearts and minds of local communities and provide a mutual benefit through conservation—win-win. By including people in the decision-making processes that affect their livelihoods and offering income-generating opportunities, healthcare, education, school lunches, sustainable farming projects, land leases, and other critical community support, Big Life has been incredibly successful in helping to protect one of the world’s few remaining natural treasures.

One of their most important initiatives is preserving corridors for migrating wildlife—like Africa’s last tusker elephants. You can read about the challenges of saving space for these giants and other endangered wildlife here. And if you’d like to join us in supporting Big Life’s holistic, community-based conservation programs, you can put your love and hope into action here. Because when people come together to heal the Earth, amazing things can happen!

ICYMI Nature News: Resilience, Beauty and Brilliance.

These Penguins Take a Thousand Naps a Day
When it comes to power napping, it’s hard to beat the micro-sleeping skills of chinstrap penguins. To keep a watchful eye on nests and chicks while also managing to snooze, the Antarctic birds only sleep for seconds up to a thousand times a day. Talk about dedicated parenting!

Redwoods Recovering from Fire Sprout 1000-Year-Old Buds
In an amazing testament to the resilience of nature, scientists have discovered that northern California redwoods affected by a 2020 wildfire mobilized sugar energy to sprout centuries-old buds. Who’s a clever ancient tree!

Starfish Arms Are Actually Head Extensions
They might look like arms, but according to new research, the five appendages forming the star of a starfish are not arms but a part of the creature’s head. That explains why the sea animals have eyes on the ends of their arms—because their arms are not arms but head. Okay.

Preventing Sea Life Entanglement in Advance
What if we could plan to avoid sea animal entanglement a year in advance? Well, thanks to the brilliant work of marine ecologists in Australia, it’s now possible to forecast when whales and turtles are most likely to get caught in fishing gear and keep them out of harm’s way. That’s what we’re talking about.

Has the Time Come for Flatworm Emojis?
If you feel that the current library of animal emojis doesn’t quite represent your full spectrum of emotions or the natural world, scientists agree. To help increase awareness and enthusiasm for all the amazing biodiversity on the planet, they’re calling for an expanded collection of creatures, including invertebrates. Perfect for when a text leaves you feeling… flatworm.

The Beauty of Northern Lights
The travel and photography blog Capture the Atlas has announced the winning photographers of northern lights for 2023. You can enjoy the splendor of nature as captured by artists around the world here.

A Murmuration in Italy
You can read about the mechanics of a starling murmuration here, and you can watch the sheer magnificence of the sound-shapes of birds in flight here, courtesy of everyone’s favorite positive Twitter (X) purveyor, Buitengebieden.

A Celebrity Owl in Central Park
If you’ve not seen news of zoo escapee Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl who has graced NYC’s Central Park with his magnificent presence for the past year, you can read about his fan club here and follow his escapades here. He’s a FWP neighborhood regular, and there is no more hauntingly beautiful sound in this city than listening to Flaco speak at night.

And A Brilliant Podcast on Animal Perception
Science writer Ed Yong’s book, An Immense World, winner of the 2023 Royal Society book prize, is one of the best books we’ve read on the functioning of creature features this year. You can listen to Ed talk about the fascinating world of animal senses right here.

And that’s our final nature news picks for 2023. Thank you so much for reading!

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Lisa S. French December 16, 2023

Do Sleeping Bears Dream of Missions to Mars?

2-minute read

What can we learn from bears about space travel?

Although the earthbound mammals have never achieved liftoff, according to research from the University of Minnesota, studying black and brown bears’ ability to bounce right back to roaming after a long winter’s nap may help scientists to develop strategies that would enable humans to overcome the negative physiological impacts of months-long interplanetary flight.

Every fall, as temperatures begin to drop, the power sleepers pack on the pounds (see Fat Bear week) in preparation for winter hibernation, an extreme state of starvation and dehydration. In the spring, after a half-year of physical inactivity and living off fat reserves, the animals can return to normal bear business within minutes of emerging from their dens, major organs intact and with little or no bone or muscle loss.

Amazingly, after consecutive months of immobility, bears lose only 23 percent of their strength, while humans would lose 90 percent over the same period. So how do they survive the big sleep without any debilitating bodily impacts? According to scientists, the burly omnivores have evolved with adaptations that significantly reduce their body temperature and heart rate to conserve energy. During hibernation, a bear’s temperature can drop by 8 -12 degrees and its heart rate to an average of just 4.3 beats per minute with minimal ill effect.

And what does that mean for the future of manned missions to Mars? Researchers are investigating whether inducing a bear-like state of hibernation would enable humans to endure the long haul of prolonged space travel—another beary good example of how we look to nature to inspire innovation.

ICYMI Nature News

First Bear Out of the Den
The first bear to emerge from winter slumber at Yellowstone has been spotted by a park biologist. It seems dreams of space have taken a backseat to securing a prime spot at the all-you-can-eat post-hibernation buffet.

The Loudest Animal on the Planet
Danish scientists have discovered how whales produce the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom—clicking nose lips. Listen to the nasal chatter here.

Pollinating Dance Instructors
We’ve written previously about how bees communicate food locations through an intricate waggle dance. Now researchers have discovered that newbies learn their honey-making moves from mentors. Swing your pollinating partner!

Fairy Lantern Flower Back from the Dead
Believed to be extinct for the past 30 years, the delicate fairy lantern flower has been rediscovered in Japan. You can see what the photosynthesis-free flower looks like here. Flower? Mushroom? Mushroom-flower?

Good News for the Earth’s Oceans
It took a long time, but the United Nations has announced the passage of a High Seas Treaty to protect marine biodiversity and 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. Not a moment too soon!

2023 National Wildlife Photo Contest
If you’re a nature-loving photographer anywhere in the world and over the age of 13, you can share your beautiful views to help protect nature in the National Wildlife Federation annual photo contest. Find out how to participate here. Go wild, happy snappers!

Btw, March 14th (3.14) is Pi Day
You can read how the number pi (π) manifests in nature here. And whether you’re into numbers or sweets and savories, you can find some delicious ways to celebrate right here! Strawberry slab, anyone?

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Lisa S. French March 13, 2023

Keep On Keeping On

To the Peacemakers, Risk-Takers, and Up-and-Coming World-Shakers

Happy International Women’s Day!

from

Frankie and Peaches

FWP

XO – KOKO!

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Lisa S. French March 8, 2021

$Pancake Girl - Ruby Math$

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

To all of the current and future problem-solving, knowledge-evolving, barrier-dissolving brainiacs, thank you for not hiding your light.

From The Pancake Girl, Favorite World Press

Then Ruby showed her math magic,
and no one bothered to tease.
And her most favorite part,
no more wobbly knees!

Keep shining!

Sincerely,

LSF • WW • FWP

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Lisa S. French February 11, 2021

Climate Scientists: Hug One if You’ve Got One

2-minute read

When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place — Paulo Coelho

Did you know that June 12 is Hug a Climate Scientist Day?

Since pandemic protocols are interfering with random acts of hugging, we’re going with virtual. But if you’ve got a climate scientist at home, you’ll probably be doubling down on the actual hugging given the latest news on global CO₂ emissions. According to a June 4 press release from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA, in May 2020, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 417 parts per million, the highest levels ever recorded. Despite the shutdown, accumulated emissions kept on working through the Earth’s system:

“People may be surprised to hear that the response to the coronavirus outbreak hasn’t done more to influence CO₂ levels,” said geochemist Ralph Keeling, who runs the Scripps Oceanography CO₂ program, “but the buildup of CO₂ is a bit like trash in a landfill. As we keep emitting, it keeps piling up. The crisis has slowed emissions, but not enough to show up perceptibly at Mauna Loa. What will matter much more is the trajectory we take coming out of this situation.”

About that trajectory:

You can learn more about our ongoing planetary predicament from the groundbreaking 2020 Pulitzer Prize-Winning explanatory series: 2°C: Beyond the Limit.

Because hope is an essential mental nutrient in these extraordinarily challenging times, you can replenish your supply by exploring Project Drawdown, a comprehensive plan to reverse global warming from the world’s leading scientists and policymakers.

Feeling inspired to help mend your corner of the world? You can join a community of experts and everyday people working to address some of our most pressing issues from climate change to COVID-19, by supporting the Union of Concerned Scientists.

If you’d like to pitch in and plant a cooling, carbon-storing tree for the planet, head on over to the Trillion Tree Campaign to connect with tree planting organizations around the world. Just click and plant. Or we’ll be happy to plant one for you when you buy any print or electronic book from the FWP series Frankie and Peaches: Tales of Total Kindness. It’s that easy!

And if you’re in need of a brain refresh, you can park your peepers on the work of ten environmental artists using their creativity to interpret the science and impacts of climate change at Artsy.

We’re grateful for all of the people holding it together on the front lines: protecting the planet, saving lives, and championing equality. As far as hugs go, because just about everybody could do with one right about now, we always keep a few spares in stock around here. Have one, or two—actually have a few! They’re electronic so 100% CDC and WHO approved ((())).

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Lisa S. French June 12, 2020

Sweet City: Cultivating Citizen Pollinators

1.5-minute read

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature — Joseph Campbell

Cities—energizing, innovative hubs of productivity as well as stress-inducing sources of noise, pollution, and congestion that often diminish nature, negatively impacting the health, well-being, and resilience of inhabitants. Instead of depleting nature, what would happen if city planners reimagined urban living in a holistic way that promotes nature and green living by design?

When the Mayor’s office of the small Costa Rican city of Curridabat realized that the vast majority of its 65,000 citizens lived with paved surfaces that discouraged the attraction of native flora and fauna, they came up with a transformative nature-based solution for sustainable urban development—the Sweet City. Curridabat’s urban planners envisioned a naturalized city as a “sentient” space that boosts biodiversity and enhances ecosystem services by granting citizenship to V.I.P.’s—very important pollinators.

The Sweet City model recognizes that humans are not separate and distinct from nature but are members of a community of living beings that contribute to the creation of healthy, resilient, biodiverse environments.

Curridabat has reframed the role of essential pollinators, including bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats as prosperity agents, valuable native citizens that increase well-being and help ensure the continuity of natural systems that support fresh, nutritious food through local production. By studying conditions that help pollinators thrive, and planting trees, flowers, and community gardens that are natural attractors, the city of Curridabat is encouraging pollinating activities, increasing connectivity to nature through biological corridors essential to species conservation and improving the beauty of visual landscapes.

Naturally recovered urban space, thriving biodiversity, happy citizens—both people and pollinators. We call that a triple-win! It’s no wonder that Costa Ricans are some of the most contented humans on the planet. Apparently the pollinators are feeling pretty alright too!

You can read more about Curridabat’s sustainable development policy to increase biodiversity and protect essential urban pollinators here.

If you would like to join a network dedicated to connecting cities and nature, sign up at biophiliccities.org.

As it so happens, May is Garden for Wildlife Month, and that’s just what we’re gonna do! If you’re also feeling inspired to cultivate your own “sentient space” for pollinators, you can learn about butterfly heroes, native plants and certified habitats from the National Wildlife Federation. Sweet!

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Lisa S. French May 21, 2020

Rescuing Coral Reefs: Cloud Brightening, Bionics, and Super Corals

3.5-minute read

If you’ve not had much mental bandwidth left to ferret out non-COVID-19 news, we totally empathize. In case you missed the story of the third mass bleaching event in five years of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, here’s a quick what’s what—along with a roundup of some inventive strategies aimed at keeping all of the world’s precious corals out of hot water.

Although some of the creature components of the natural world are currently experiencing a welcome period of rest and recovery, as a result of rising ocean temperatures, the large colonies of thousands of tiny animals that make up coral reefs are facing unprecedented heat stress that is exceeding their ability to adapt and survive. These architecturally complex living structures support beautifully biodiverse undersea communities that encompass up to 25 percent of all marine species, including 4000 types of fish and an estimated 8 million yet-to-be-discovered organisms. As critical parts of our planetary infrastructure, coral reef ecosystems contribute to the livelihoods of 500 million people in 100 countries, adding approximately 30 billion dollars to annual GDP.

Under normal environmental conditions, corals can live forever. Sadly, recurring and prolonged bleaching events caused by changes in water temperature and acidity as a result of oceans absorbing increasing levels of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) from the atmosphere have pushed corals beyond their comfort zone. During a bleaching event, stressed corals expel the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) embedded in their tissues, which they rely on for nutrition and which give them their often vibrant color. Without a consistent source of nourishment from their algal occupants, bleached corals slowly become weakened and may die, causing a chain reaction of equally adverse impacts for reef inhabitants. Depending on the amount of damage that occurs during a bleaching event, it can take decades for a coral reef to recover. To date, up to half of the world’s reefs have been severely damaged.

Okay, what’s the good news, you ask? Is there good news? Because we could use more of that. It’s undeniable that earth systems wait for no one, and our oceans have already been committed to a certain degree of warming. Now, one of the most important things we can do to create good news for corals and other marine wildlife is to help prevent bleaching events by reducing the GHG emissions that absorb radiation from the sun and raise ocean temperatures. As we sprint to ramp up mitigation efforts, scientists around the world from biologists to chemists to geophysicists are tackling the coral crisis from a few different angles in hope of changing the current trajectory from despair to repair. Here are some highlights from projects focused on saving our reef ecosystems from extinction:

Brightening Marine Clouds:
Earth scientists are geoengineering cloud parasols for the planet to cool waters around reefs and buy more time for corals. Through a process called marine cloud brightening, clouds are seeded with salt crystals to increase their reflectivity. These artificially enhanced bright clouds reflect solar radiation away from the earth lowering ocean temperatures in targeted reef areas. In late March, researchers at Southern Cross University in Australia conducted the first successful, small-scale cloud brightening experiment over a portion of the Great Barrier Reef. You can watch how they did it here.

Printing 3-D Bionic Corals:
Figuring out the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae will be critical for reef conservation in a warming world. To gain a better understanding of why corals expel algae under stress, bioengineers at the University of Cambridge have created bionic corals that can mimic the behavior of different coral species using biological materials and specialized 3-D printers. The Cambridge researchers also plan to construct large-scale colonies of man-made corals to grow algae for carbon capture and storage.

Breeding Climate Resilient Super Corals:
To create more resilient reef systems in anticipation of future warming, scientists at the Gates Coral Lab Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology are giving nature a helping hand through the breeding of corals that have successfully adapted to environmental stressors. By selecting the hardiest corals for reproduction and replicating various conditions of acidification, pollution, and temperature over time, marine biologists hope to grow more highly stress-tolerant super corals for use in reef restoration. You can learn more about these forward-thinking cultivators of corals in Coral Whisperers: Scientists on the Brink by Irus Braverman.

If you’re concerned about coral reefs and would like to keep tabs on how they’re holding up in near real-time, there are NOAA satellites for that at Coral Reef Watch.

You can also dive in and participate in some armchair ocean conservation by playing NeMO-Net, a new video game that helps train a NASA supercomputer to map the world’s corals.

If you’d like to follow a collaborative community of earth scientists working to maintain the healthy functioning of our planet, check out EarthCube.

And because gazing at marine life is good for you, to help tide you over until you’re free to roam, the Ocean Conservancy has coral reef wallpaper for your phone and desktop. Download away!

As always, hang in, stay safe, and be well!

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Lisa S. French April 29, 2020

Red Panda Pause

2.0-minute read to distract yourself while distancing

We’re guessing you haven’t spent any time recently (or perhaps ever) thinking about the facial features of endangered red pandas (Ailurus fulgens). But if you’re up for a time-in programming break, here’s a quick creature feature challenge to test your visual acuity. Look closely—can you tell the difference between the panda on the left and the one on the right? Do you think you could pick these two out of a line-up of identical-looking, gingery, bamboo eaters? They may appear alike, but the differences lie in their fine facial details. Even amongst experts, without obvious distinguishing markings to tell one red panda from another, monitoring their dwindling populations has posed a significant challenge. However, new developments in face recognition technology are making the gathering of conservation-critical information on animal species with subtle variations in appearance a whole lot easier.

Until recently, researchers had resorted to micro-chipping and collaring to identify and track at-risk species; now, computer vision tech upgrades are helping to eliminate the stress and risk of capturing and tagging threatened wildlife.

Working in close collaboration with biologists, computer scientists are creating AI-assisted facial recognition programs that map and record granular visual characteristics of individual animals. In much the same way facial recognition software works for humans, Automatic Individual Identification Methods used for wildlife first process and reorient the photographic images so that they are as close in size and shape to one another as possible. Then, distinguishing features such as eye size, fur texture, or whisker spots are isolated and identified for comparison to a database of existing images, greatly expanding researchers’ ability to pinpoint new individuals and track populations.

According to the IUCN, the number of red pandas in the world has decreased by 40% in the past 50 years. As a result of habitat loss and hunting, there are now only 16,000 to 20,000 left in the highland pine forests of Nepal, India, Myanmar, Bhutan, and China. Because every creature counts, for wildlife threatened with extinction like the red panda, innovations in machine learning are becoming increasingly important to monitoring their demographics, health, and response to environmental change. These transformative technologies also hold great potential for expanding the community of citizen conservationists by enabling the public to help track endangered species through online contributions to image database portals.

You can learn more about red panda particulars here and other animal facial recognition projects like LemurFaceID here, and Lion Identification Network of Collaborators here.

We hope you are hanging right on in there, but if the news updates start to feel overwhelming, here’s an NYC semi-pro tip to lighten up your headspace: even if your only view of the outdoors is through a window, remember to turn your face towards the sun and just breathe.

And, today is National Doctor’s Day! For all of the healthcare professionals on the front lines working around the clock to save lives, including the 79,000 medical volunteers in New York, here’s today’s uplifting open-window whoop of extreme gratitude from Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Replay as needed!

As always, take good care and be well.

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Lisa S. French March 30, 2020

Splendid Scientists

Since Thanksgiving is just one short day away, we decided to get a head start on the list of splendid people and things to be grateful for here at Favorite World Press: our tree-planting readers, our tree-planting partners, our creative conjurors, our unwavering supporters, and the forthcoming T-Day pie!

At Weekly Wondrous, we are especially thankful for those whose hard work helps fuel our mission—the researchers, the problem solvers—the scientists. Here’s to you:

WW Ode to Scientists

The unrelenting analysts,
the cogitating theorists,
the research fiends, the paper writers,
the curious ones, the bias fighters,
the double-checking data sharers,
the honest information bearers,
the conclusion-drawing recommenders,
the nothing-but-the-truth defenders,
the nature-loving planet keepers,
the make-it-better never sleepers,
the ones who question as a rule,
the scientists—the supercool!

With unbounded gratitude for all that you do.

-LSF-

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Lisa S. French November 27, 2019

Rhino Redux

In honor of World Rhino Day, here’s a short but sweet update on our restoring rhinos post. On September 11, 2019, Ol Pejeta Conservancy announced a groundbreaking achievement in assisted reproduction: the successful creation of two viable northern white rhino embryos from the functionally-extinct species as part of the Bio Rescue research project. Bio Rescue is an international consortium of scientists and conservationists committed to pushing the frontiers of science in an effort to save the northern white rhino from extinction through the advancement of assisted reproduction and stem cell-associated techniques. A comprehensive risk assessment ensuring the welfare of egg donors Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos on Earth, was critical to the success of the project. The two embryos resulting from this pioneering work are currently being stored in liquid nitrogen awaiting transfer to surrogate mothers in the not too distant future. We’re keeping our ears peeled for the pitter-patter of dainty three-toed feet.

You can learn more about other dedicated global efforts to protect and preserve endangered species and the places they roam here.

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Lisa S. French September 22, 2019