• Humpback whales share seasonal “hit songs”

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    Apr 15 2011 Humpback whales share seasonal hit songs” Bioacoustics Ocean Science Add comments A ten-year study in the western Pacific has documented the ways that new humpback whale songs move through several distinct populations over the course of a breeding season . Our findings reveal cultural change on a vast scale , 8221 said Ellen Garland , a graduate student at The University of Queensland . Multiple songs moved like cultural ripples from one population to another , causing all males to change their song to a new version . 8221 This is the first time that such broad-scale and population-wide cultural exchange has been documented in any species other than humans , she added . Ed . note : researchers have also suggested that cultural patterns are passed among sperm whale populations

  • NPR covers new “soundscape ecology” research

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    Apr 25 2011 NPR covers new soundscape ecology” research Bioacoustics Science Wildlands Add comments Two recent features on NPR looked at and listened to new academic research that is being framed as soundscape ecology . 8221 Very similar to our work with acoustic ecology , the new discipline aims to be seen as a subset of the established field of landscape ecology , with a focus naturally on the ways soundscapes can inform us about the health of . habitats The first piece , from last month , was a 5 minute segment on Weekend Edition , with Bryan Pijanowski of Purdue and Jesse Barber of Boise State who has also worked extensively with National Park Service researchers It can be heard and read here The second piece is close to a half-hour long , and is a conversation with Pijanowski and

  • Bioacoustics would benefit from shared technology, says new paper

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    , Apr 26 2011 Bioacoustics would benefit from shared technology , says new paper Bioacoustics Science Add comments Conservation Magazine’s Journal Watch has a nice summary of an important new overview of acoustic monitoring more at the link Computer and electronics revolutions have produced sound-recording gear that is transforming the way we study individuals and populations of animals , and are leading to significant advances in our understandings of the complex interactions between animals and their habitats , a multinational team of researchers writes in the Journal of Applied . Ecology Using arrays that can include dozens of microphones , for instance , researchers have been able to closely track tiny birds through nearly impenetrable tropical undergrowth and map out their territories

  • Americans hear better now than 40 years ago

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    Apr 25 2011 Americans hear better now than 40 years ago Health Human impacts News Science Add comments Researchers have determined that Americans between 25 and 64 years old hear better than their grandparents did at the same age . Comparing research done in 1959-1962 with similar studies in 1999-2004, it appears that upper-frequency hearing is notably better than it used to be middle-frequency hearing is roughly the . same Researchers suspect that a combination of better treatment of childhood ear infections , fewer smokers and better health care in general , and a reduction in manufacturing jobs as well as better hearing protection in today’s workplaces have led to the . improvement The reduction in upper-frequency hearing loss is especially important in speech . recognition Women from

  • NOAA increases whale-watching distance for orcas

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    Apr 11 2011 NOAA increases whale-watching distance for orcas Effects of Noise on Wildlife News shipping Add comments Two years after proposing changes in whale-watching rules in Puget Sound to protect endangered orca populations , NOAA has finalized its new standards . Boats will need to stay twice as far from the whales 200 yards and a half-mile wide no-go” zone has been established along the entire west coast of San Juan Island , an important feeding . zone For detailed coverage of the new plans , see these earlier AEInews . posts UPDATE , 4 : 15 Canadian regulations lag those on the US side of the border a recent study found that an average of about 20 boats surround orcas in summer months in one popular whale-watching area . See this recent article that summarizes a set of proposed

  • Key step toward identifying key beaked whale habitat, avoiding sonar exposure?

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    , Apr 28 2011 Key step toward identifying key beaked whale habitat , avoiding sonar exposure Science Sonar Add comments A study just published is a tentative first step toward knowing where beaked whales may be foraging , and so perhaps avoiding exposing them to mid-frequency active sonar without having to see or hear them . first The study , briefly described in this press release found that beaked whales were more numerous in an area of their known habitat where salinity and temperature conditions increased the abundance of their prey . Yup , that’s right : they found that beaked whales congregate in areas where there are more fish they like to eat Ain’t science great Seriously , though , such studies are important to ocean planners , as they provide the necessary causal data that can

  • NREL to study turbulence in wind turbine wakes

    Updated: 2011-04-30 20:27:10
    Apr 27 2011 NREL to study turbulence in wind turbine wakes Science Wind turbines Add comments The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory is about to begin a new study of the turbulent wakes that appear downwind from wind turbines . Such turbulence can decrease the efficiency of turbines as well as creating physical stresses on the machinery many researchers also suspect that inconsistent wind speeds across the rotor diameter contributes to increased noise . It’s certainly easy to imagine that turbines inside the wakes pictured at the left from an offshore wind farm in Denmark , where moisture reveals the normally invisible patterns might be under stresses that would increase noise . output For more on the NREL study , see this feature in Science Daily Leave a Reply Name Email not required

  • Friday Night at the Movies | Project Green Hands – Planting 114 Million Trees

    Updated: 2011-04-29 08:13:31
    “Every society needs individuals who will go on planting mango trees whether they will get to eat the fruit or not” – Sadhguru Project Green Hands

  • Phytoplankton and Algae: The Air We All Breathe

    Updated: 2011-04-25 20:39:24
    We’ve said this before, but few people truly know that the primary source of the air we all breathe comes from single celled organisms, largely phytoplankton and algae. These organisms use the sun’s energy to produce oxygen that collectively make up about 80% of the air we breathe. The video today takes a look at [...]

  • Gardening field days at LongGreenHouse

    Updated: 2011-04-20 21:49:08
    The Still Water Permaculture Guild, located at 5 Chapel Road in Orono (LongGreenHouse), is inviting anyone who is interested to come to their “field days” this Friday (April 22) and next Wednesday (April 27), from 12 noon to 4pm. The Guild has been working to transform a normal residential yard into a perennial garden with [...]

  • Friday Night at the Movies | Arthur Potts Dawson: A Vision for Sustainable Restaurants

    Updated: 2011-04-15 06:01:59
    Nature does not create waste as such. Everything in Nature is used up in a closed, continuous cycle, with waste being the end of the beginning. About Arthur Potts Dawson

  • Career Choices: Sustainable Farming of the Future

    Updated: 2011-04-12 06:00:05
    If you really consider a career or career change, farming is one that has the greatest growth opportunity (no pun intended). ndeed, farmland is being lost at an alarming rate due to environmental degradation, commercial conversion for industry and urban development. In fact, the United Nations reports that 75 million acres of farmland is [...]

  • The true cost of nitrogen pollution

    Updated: 2011-04-11 14:41:23
    The European Nitrogen Assessment (ENA), a major new investigation, today released its findings revealing the environmental and economic cost of nitrogen pollution in Europe. The ENA, conducted by over 200 international experts, estimated that nitrogen pollution is already costing Europeans up to £650 each every year – amounting to a total of £280 billion. This [...]

  • Friday Night at the Movies | Carolyn Steel: How food shapes our cities

    Updated: 2011-04-08 06:01:04
    Architect Carolyn Steel explaines that we live in a world shaped by food. This illuminating talk explores the daily miracle of feeding a city, and reveals how ancient food routes shaped the modern world. About Carolyn Steel

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