From The Sun
Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful
than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again
out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower…
Mary Oliver
Remain in light.
Happy Summer Solstice
2-minute read
Something unusual happened in New York City last week—the skyline disappeared. Plumes of smoke emanating from the hundreds of wildfires blazing across Canada’s boreal forest descended over the Eastern seaboard, and in just a few hours, Manhattan’s skyscrapers faded out, obscured by an eerie orange haze. As visibility plummeted, so did air quality, topping out at a hazardous to everyone 352 on the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI). The particle pollution generated from wildfires that made it hard to see also made it difficult and dangerous to breathe.
While the air quality in NYC and other East Coast urban areas returned to a healthier range this week, city residents learned firsthand that you don’t have to be a forest inhabitant to experience the life-disrupting impacts of extreme wildfires. As the planet heats up and the number and intensity of wildfires continue to increase, scientists are exploring options to remove particulate matter and other pollutants from the air in high-population areas. One nature-based solution that both cleans and cools the air in cities and improves overall health and well-being: more green space.
If Orange is the New Blue, is Green the New Black?
Environmental scientists have concluded that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to remove heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere. New research has shown that leafy green sky vacuums are also absolute champs at filtering particle pollution that accumulates in high-density urban areas and is hazardous to human health. Researchers studying the absorption capacity of diverse types of trees found that while many species are effective air purifiers, one type, in particular, is good at absorbing particulates—pines.
Studies comparing the needles of evergreen pine trees to the leaves of seasonally shedding trees, including birch, poplar, beech, and ash trees, show that pine needles have the greatest year-round and longer-term potential to absorb particulate matter pollution. Air quality models created by scientists at the University of Graz factoring in leaf shape, texture, and wind patterns found that one square kilometer of pine forest planted throughout a city of 300,000 reduced the number of days that particle pollution registered over the healthy limit from 54 to 25. Increasing overall pine-age helped dial back the dust by almost fifty percent.
Trees Absorb Pollutants So You Don’t Have To
Although environmental researchers may not yet be able to provide an exact urban tree-planting protocol to help turn orange skies blue again in the case of extreme wildfire events, under relatively normal conditions, designating more green space in urban areas and planting tree species that absorb particulate pollution can help city dwellers breathe a whole lot easier.
Increasing the capacity of forest ecosystems to function as nature intended by reducing heat-trapping emissions that contribute to the drought conditions that intensify wildfires should be a top priority. As residents of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. learned last week, on a rapidly warming planet, what happens in the forest doesn’t stay in the forest—even if the forest is one thousand miles away.
ICYMI Nature News
The Tallest Sky Vacuum Ever—Ever
After a multi-year quest in search of the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest, intrepid trekkers have finally captured exclusive drone footage of the ancient giant—in a grove of giants. Follow along on their journey here.
Roadtripping Wildlife
When humans stayed in, animals stepped out. Scientists studying the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the movement patterns of wildlife have discovered that curious critters took advantage of low-traffic highways and byways to get around. Learn how they made use of the roaming room here.
Hornless Rhinos Are Homebodies
Removing rhino horns to help protect the critically endangered species from poachers is turning the animals into apprehensive homebodies. Without an intact horn to protect themselves and their territory, scientists believe the modified rhinos are playing it safe by reducing their range. No horn, no go, no way.
Meet the Carpenter Squirrels
Flying squirrels in China gnaw grooves in nuts to wedge them in trees, keeping them high and dry and ready for snacking. Crafty!
A Turtle’s Eye View of the Great Barrier Reef
If you’ve ever wondered what sea turtles get up to underwater, scientists at the World Wildlife Fund have captured some amazing turtle cam footage so you can see what the reptiles see—in the sea. Have a look!
What’s the Big, Beautiful Picture?
The winners and finalists of the 2023 Natural World Photography Contest have been announced, and you can explore the amazing images of the world’s wonders here.
FWP Carbon Capture Report
Trees for cooling, trees for purifying the air, trees for habitat, trees for income. We plant them all over the world with the help of our tree-planting partners at Tree-Nation. From April 2022 through May 2023 the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3,787 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 371,990 gallons of diesel consumed, 4,241,864 pounds of coal burned, or 460,643,616 smartphones charged.
2.5-minute read
“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.”
Anonymous
Depending upon where you find yourself on our home planet, making a wish upon a star is becoming increasingly challenging. The growing number of artificial lights that illuminate our land, city, and seascapes are also brightening the night skies, dimming our views of the stars and other celestial bodies.
According to astronomers, more than two-thirds of the U.S. population and one-fifth of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The skyglow (aka, light pollution) that diminishes our ability to marvel at the beauty of bright spots in the heavens and achieve celestial wish fulfillment is also having a profound impact on the survival of some of Earth’s most charismatic creatures, including everyone’s favorite body-armored reptiles—the critically endangered sea turtles.
Because many species of animals have evolved attuned to natural cycles of darkness and light, when those cycles are disrupted, it can affect how they interact with their environment and each other. According to researchers examining how artificial light affects animal behavior, light pollution can create confusion in wildlife that can alter migration, communication, foraging, and reproduction.
Sea turtles are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of light pollution, relying on night-darkened beaches to help protect nests and keep hatchlings safe from disturbance. Turtles unable to locate a beach dark enough to obscure their nests have been known to abandon nesting attempts or discard their eggs in the sea.
Scientists monitoring hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, and green turtles have reported that hatchlings face the most significant hazards from light pollution. Aided by the cover of nighttime darkness, newly emerged baby turtles instinctually aim to make their way toward the sea. Hatchlings disoriented by artificial lighting can toddle off in the wrong direction, be overcome by exhaustion and dehydration, and sadly, never reach the water. A study of nesting sites in the Mediterranean found that only 21% of loggerhead hatchlings on well-lit beaches survived their sandy commute versus 48% of hatchlings emerging on unlit beaches.
Sea turtles aren’t the only animal species whose nighttime behaviors can become disrupted by ecological light pollution. Increasing levels of artificial light also affect birds, bats, fish, insects, and amphibians. Conservationists continue exploring innovative ways to manage light sources to keep night-dependent wildlife in the dark and help maintain life-sustaining biological rhythms.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of good for people, good for wildlife natural nighttime, we’ve pulled together some resources to help you embrace the darkness:
The Skyglow Project
The World at Night Galleries
DarkSky
ICYMI Nature News
Behold Manhattanhenge
The city that never sleeps may never turn off the lights, but that doesn’t mean New Yorkers can’t appreciate (or perhaps prefer) nature’s way of illuminating their urban jungle. If you missed the sun’s perfect alignment with Manhattan’s street grid this week, you’ll get another chance to experience the glow on July 13th.
An Octopus’s Worst Nightmare
Scientists observing bizarre behaviors in a sleeping Brazilian Reef Octopus believe the sea creatures may have vivid, potentially terrifying narrative dreams. Visions of a tentacle-chilling downgrade from octo to bi-pus?
Young Gorillas Bounce Back from Adversity
Researchers from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund studying five decades of data have found that thanks in part to the benefits of tight-knit social groups, young mountain gorillas show tremendous resilience to traumatic life events, like the loss of a parent. Power to the supportive primates.
Because All You Need Is Love
A lowland gorilla born in captivity at Smithsonian National is off to a good start in life thanks to the loving care of attentive mom, Calaya. A happy plus one for the critically endangered species.
Sailboat Sabotaging Cetaceans
Killer whales off the coasts of Spain and Portugal have been busy sinking sailboats. Scientists aren’t sure whether the unusual behavior is orca boat biting gone viral or payback for a painful encounter with a super annoying sea vessel. Either way, it seems the sailboat saboteurs are sorry, not sorry.
And that’s all folks. Have a super weekend!
2-minute read
In celebration of World Bee Day, we’re going to look at one of the unexpected ways the planet’s hardest working pollinators go about the business of helping to keep us stocked in essential fruit, flowers, and veg.
Capable of visiting up to 1,000 flowers a day in their quest for pollen, these brainy insects use a variety of sensory capabilities to detect color, pattern, texture, and fragrance to scope out prime floral real estate efficiently.
According to scientists at the University of Bristol, bees have one tool in their pollen-detecting arsenal that may come as a bit of a shock—an electrostatic field. We humans can’t see it or feel it, but honeybees and bumblebees can perceive a weak electric field around flowers, helping them to determine which plants are the best bets for providing floral rewards.
As a bee travels through the air, it accumulates a positive electric charge. When the positively charged pollinator zeroes in on a negatively charged flower, an electric field is created that helps to dislodge and transfer pollen from flower to bee and from bee to flower.
How bees interpret and use information gathered from the floral e-field is species-dependent. Researchers believe that bumblebees perceive the strength of the force of the e-field through sensory hairs on their bodies that communicate by way of their central nervous systems which flowers will provide the best pollen pay-off. Honeybees detect e-field locations through their antennae and carry pollen source information back to the hive, disseminating news of first-rate foraging locations via an intricate waggle dance.
Given that 75 percent of food crops rely on pollinators, we are glad to learn that everybody’s favorite buzzers are equipped with all the necessary capabilities to ensure they can get the job done. Another amazing way that nature’s adaptations provide big benefits.
If you would like to learn how you can help keep these industrious e-field detectives in top form, check in with the Bee Conservancy.
ICYMI Nature News
Pollinating Tree Frogs
Uh oh, look out bumblebees! Scientists believe they may have discovered a new species of pollinator to add to the list of planetary helpers—a tiny, pollen and nectar-feasting Brazilian tree frog.
Touch-Tasting Octopuses
According to scientists at the University of Texas, octopuses use sensory mechanisms in their tentacles to taste potential food sources. So, no long sleeves for these multi-limbed marvels, then?
Extinct Animals Re-Imagined
To help draw attention to the extinction crisis, author Lucas Zellers and the Center for Biological Diversity have created a role-playing game manual inspired by 70 extinct animal species. The book is due later this year, but you can get a preview here.
Video Chatting Parrots
The University of Glasgow researchers have discovered that isolated pet parrots taught to video chat with distant bird pals gained similar social benefits to living in a flock. Polly want a video call?
More Fascinating Bird Behavior
If you think video-chatting parrots are awe-inspiring, check out what these clever winged creatures get up to in the wild as captured by the 2022 Audubon Photo Award winners.
FWP Carbon Capture Report
Happy one-year Tree-Nation tree-versary FWP readers! From April 2022 through April 2023, we are glad to report that the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3459 tons. That’s the equivalent of 8,000 barrels of oil consumed, 389,204 gallons of gasoline consumed, or 3,874,454 pounds of coal burned.
Dear Nurturers,
Thank you very much
and
Happy Forces of Nature Day!
love,
Favorite World Press
2.5-minute read
Study nature, love nature,
stay close to nature.
It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright
It’s official.
Today is Earth Day—
our annual reminder to recommit
to protecting and restoring
the natural world.
To help kick off your 2023
personal love-the-planet palooza,
we want to share
some hopeful, healing ways
for you to celebrate.
12 songs for singing
Or humming. Or whistling.
Or just listening.
The FWP Earth Day dozen playlist.
12 books for reading
A few of our current
favorite nature
and environmental titles
to educate and inspire:
A Life on Our Planet/
David Attenborough
Ancient Trees Portraits of Time/
Beth Moon
An Immense World/
Ed Yong
Bird
Exploring the Winged World/
Phaidon Editors
Humanity’s Moment/
Joëlle Gurgis
Nature’s Best Hope/
Douglas W. Tallamy
Not Too Late/
Rebecca Solnit &
Thelma Young Lutunatabua
The Accidental Ecosystem/
Peter S. Alagona
The New Big 5
A Global Photography Project
for Endangered Species/
Graeme Greene
The Songs Of Trees/
David George Haskell
What A Bee Knows/
Stephan Buchmann
Wild Souls/
Emma Marris
42 projects for planting
For every print or e-book
that you buy,
we’ll plant a native tree
in one of 42
global reforestation projects.
You read. We plant.
52 actions for protecting
And if you’re feeling the urge
to show our home planet
some tender loving care,
the good people at Earth Day.org
have curated a year’s worth
of tips and activities
to get you started.
Count me in!
Wishing you peace & a hopeful heart.
Happy Earth Day!
xo Favorite World Press
2.5-minute read
It’s the little things citizens do.
That’s what will
make the difference.
My little thing is planting trees.
Wangari Maathai
If you’re a regular reader, you know we’re big on trees—planting them, protecting them, and writing about them. In honor of Earth Month, we’d like to share a bit about how our planting partners at Tree-Nation do that planet-preserving thing they do—helping tackle the urgent mission of restoring the world’s forests.
Capturing carbon, protecting biodiversity, and supporting the livelihoods of local communities through reforestation are all at the top of the planetary to-do list. While tree planting seems simple enough—just dig and drop—the most successful reforestation strategies combine scientific and indigenous knowledge to create customized planting techniques that result in the greatest all-around benefits for people, wildlife, and the planet. To overcome the increasing global environmental challenges that impact survival rates, the right trees must be planted in the right place in the right way.
So how does Tree-Nation ensure that newly planted seeds and seedlings fulfill their tree-life destiny to combat climate change, purify the air and water, and provide revenue, food, fodder, and medicine for local populations and habitats for millions of species? They think globally and plant locally, using a variety of methods that align with the Ten Golden Rules of Reforestation, guidelines developed by an expert team of researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens to help avoid the pitfalls of large-scale tree-planting initiatives.
Wherever they plant in the world, the number one objective of every project that Tree-Nation supports is to encourage a diverse mix of native tree species that minimize harm and maximize long-term benefits.
From simple methods that simulate animal dispersal to highly engineered solutions like drones, for all the forestry nerds out there, this is how Tree-Nation digs, drops, and re-trees to meet their commitment of a trillion trees planted by 2050:
Direct Sowing
Planting individual seeds directly into the soil where the trees are to be established.
Benefits: Trees grow strong and adapt well to their environment.
Muvuca Strategy
Spreading seeds of hundreds of varieties of native species over every square meter of land. You can learn how this technique is being used to save forests in Brazil here.
Benefits: Creates natural spread of vegetation and dense forests.
Seed Bombs
One or multiple seeds are wrapped in clay and compost, protecting the seed from harsh weather and animals.
Benefits: Easy to manipulate and quick to plant.
Aerial Seeding
Sowing seeds by dropping them from a drone, plane, or helicopter to disperse seeds into difficult-to-reach locations.
Benefits: Offers a cheap automated method to plant at a large scale.
Nursery Seedling Transplant
The most widespread technique in tree planting, seedlings spend 3-6 months in nurseries before being transplanted, usually during the rainy season.
Benefits: Offers great control over quantities and species planted and survival rate.
Assisted Natural Regeneration
Protecting and preserving natural tree seedlings in forested areas by employing different techniques to remove or reduce barriers.
Benefits: A natural approach that is inexpensive and well-suited to existing forested areas.
If you’d like to learn how effective restoration organizations like Tree-Nation determine which trees should be planted where check out the GlobalTreeSearch for a list of every known tree species on Earth by country.
A final thought on reforestation—as enthusiastic as Favorite World Press is about tree planting, and that would be a 10 out of 10, we want to emphasize that to maintain the healthy functioning of our planet protecting existing old-growth forests like Alaska’s Tongass is essential.
And a gentle reminder—we plant one tree for every print or e-book sold. If you’d like to make tree-planting your little thing, read with us!
ICYMI Nature News
Crying Plants
According to new research published in Cell, thirsty plants make ultra-sonic noise that can be heard by some animals. This is what it sounds like when plants cry.
Introverted Tigers
Do you think all Siberian tigers have big cat energy? Scientists have identified two distinct personality types in the stripey felines that map to the traits of introversion and extroversion in humans. Either way, we think they’re grrrrrreat!
Glow-In-the-Dark Garden Mice
Platypus do it, some squirrels and hares do it, and according to Estonian researchers, garden dormice do it. What’s that? They glow under UV light. Rodential party animals.
Self-Aware Bees
Pollination ecologist Stephen Buchmann has published new research that indicates bees are sentient and may have a primitive form of consciousness. We knew it all along.
DIY Elephants
According to a new study, elephants may be one of the few species on Earth to have domesticated themselves. If you want something done right do it your ele-self.
FWP Carbon Capture Report
From April 2022 through March 2023, the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3157 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 8,093,790 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, 136,664 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled, or 3,536,616 pounds of coal burned.
If the sight of the blue skies
fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass
springing up in the fields
has power to move you,
if the simple things of nature
have a message
that you understand,
rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Elenora Duse
Rejoice.
Reimagine.
Restore.
2-minute read
Our innate capacity to feel what others feel is one of the traits that make humans human, and according to new research, it’s also what makes zebrafish—zebrafish. If the idea that our gilled friends have feelings sounds, well, fishy, you may be interested to learn that not only do some fishes have feelings, but it also seems they have feelings about other fishes’ feelings—at least when it comes to fear.
The spontaneous spread of emotions, known as social contagion, is regarded as one of the most ancient forms of empathy and has been widely recognized in humans as well as highly social mammals, including elephants, dolphins, and primates. But big-brained mammals aren’t alone in their ability to perceive and mirror the emotional states of their own kind—it’s an ability they seem to share with some species of fish.
Scientists studying the origins of how emotional states spread through social groups of animals believe that oxytocin, the hormone that regulates empathetic behaviors like trust, attachment, and bonding in mammals, enables zebrafish to sense and respond to fear in their finned comrades.
Observing two fish, one relaxed and swimming normally and one showing signs of fear, the zebrafish in the study mimicked the movements of the frightened fish and then approached and interacted with the distressed swimmer—what scientists believe could be perceived as an empathetic response. Zebrafish that lacked oxytocin were indifferent to the distress of the frightened fish and preferred the company of the relaxed fish. Some might call the cold-blooded creatures’ behavior—self-fish.
Although we may not yet know for certain if fish experience other emotions, we can imagine that a fish paralyzed by fear might feel comforted by the attentions of compassionate co-swimmers.
ICYMI Nature News
How Whale Sharks See in the Dark
Scientists studying how whale sharks can see in the darkness of the deep sea have come up with an answer—temperature-sensitive retinas. Handy! Read all about it here.
Strutting Spiders Have All the Moves
According to new research, male wolf spiders use fancy footwork and fluffy leggings to catch the eye (eyes) of lady spiders. See how they strut.
Monarchs in Serious Distress
Sad news for monarch butterflies and their habitats this week. Populations overwintering in Mexico have dropped by 22% since last year due to deforestation and climate change. Time for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Game On for the Planet
If you’re feeling the urge to do a little planet tending and don’t have an actual patch nearby, you can get some practice in virtual ecosystem restoration with the brand-new conservation game TerraNil. Eight percent of profits will be donated to the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Check it out!
Run For the Wild Ones
If you’re local to NYC, on April 29, you can make tracks for sloths and other endangered species by participating in the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Run for the Wild. Register here.
200? 200!
A little bird told us this is Wild & Wondrous’ 200th blog. Oh. Okay then! 🥳
2-minute read
Of all the creatures under the sea, when it comes to precision prey tracking, seals (aka pinnipeds) have a distinct advantage—whisker vision. Although the mustachioed marine mammals can recognize a tasty fish when they see one, thanks to their super-sensitive whiskers, seals don’t need to see a fish to catch a fish.
Like all living beings, seals have evolved with the exact creature features and adaptations they need to thrive in their particular place on the planet. Scientists studying how seals can successfully hunt in low, or no, visibility conditions have concluded that the animals are ideally equipped to go with the flow.
Through finely tuned flow sensors in their whiskers, seals can detect the motion trail of prey from as far away as 600 feet. The whisker sensors also relay the size and direction of potential meals, indicating whether the calorie reward would be worth the energy required for a hot pursuit.
And what makes seal whiskers so exquisitely sensitive to disturbances in the water that they can even detect the exhalations of fish at the bottom of the sea? Following two decades of research, scientists have concluded that the wavy shape of a seal’s whiskers, unique in the animal kingdom, enables the specialized hunters to lock on to the frequency of preferred prey while tuning out noise from their own movement.
Besides being all-important for meal acquisition, seals’ extraordinary sensory perception and unusually shaped whiskers are now informing all manner of research into the development of biomimetic robots for underwater exploration. And you thought the innovation-inspiring marine mammals were just adorable, bristle-faced fish-eaters.
ICYMI Nature News
Green Is Good
In a much-needed boost to North Atlantic marine life, including porpoises, skates, and stingrays, 4300 miles of water along the Greater Skellig Coast have been recognized as Ireland’s first Mission Blue Hope Spot. Erin go bragh!
Free Butterfly Plants
If you participate in an urban, community, or school garden in the Northeastern U.S., the Xerces Society is now offering free native plants for your patch to help provide sustenance to endangered migrating monarchs. Find out if you qualify here.
NYC Sky Garden Opening
It’s officially spring, and NYC’s delightful, de-lovely, elevated gardens will soon burst into bloom. Starting April 1, you can tiptoe through the High Line tulips until 10 pm.
Pick Up the Pieces
From now through Earth Day, you can take part in the Great Global Cleanup to help rid our beautiful home planet of plastic pollution. Find a location near you in need of some TLC (tender loving cleanup).
Meditate on the Feather Star
If you’re suffering from mid-week Jell-O brain or just enjoy watching magical sea creatures do magical sea creature things, we highly recommend a few moments of peaceful meditation on the feather star’s multi-limbed locomotion. And go with the flow.
“Kindness is contagious. Pass it on.”
April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851
Graveyard at the Church of the Intercession in the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum at 155th Street and Broadway.
Yeah, okay, but can you do this?
100 blog posts = sparklers + cake mountain!
Strenuously exercising on the inside!
“It’s going to be alright!”
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