Earthweek: a Diary of the planet
For the week ending Friday, Jan. 5.
Eclipse ripples
The total solar eclipse across North America on Aug. 21 caused waves to ripple through the top of Earth’s atmosphere, which scientists say they observed for the first time. Data from 2,000 sensors found that the brief but rapid cooling and heating of the ionosphere during the eclipse made V-shaped atmospheric waves, similar to those made by a boat traveling through water. While there was a disruption of the charged particles in parts of Earth’s geomagnetic field during the eclipse, scientists say it was tiny compared with the geomagnetic disturbances caused by solar storms.
Vaquita war
An anti-poaching drone being used to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in the northern Gulf of California was shot down by poachers just before the new year. A conservation group says the drone was being used with its two ships patrolling the upper gulf of California Biosphere Reserve. Illicit net fishing in the vaquita’s habitat has devastated the tiny porpoises’ population by snaring and drowning the animals.
Mass migration
The wildebeest migration in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park is back in full force, thanks to the removal of herds of livestock that had encroached into the reserve. A spokesman for the country’s National Parks Authority says there has been a significant increase in the number of the migratory animals in the park after the livestock eviction. An estimated 1.4 million wildebeest, as well as a half-million Thomson’s gazelles and about 200,000 zebras, travel north and south between Kenya’s Masai Mara and the Serengeti to graze when land is lush.
Bat cave cure?
A way to wipe out the deadly white-nose syndrome that has devastated bat populations by the millions across North America may have been found. Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service say the fungus responsible is highly sensitive to ultraviolet light. The researchers say Pseudogymnoascus destructans is unable to repair DNA damage caused by the UV light, which could lead to new treatments. A few seconds of moderate exposure resulted in less than 1 percent of the fungus surviving.
Growing bonanza
A new “speed breeding” method for growing common crops has the potential to help feed the world’s expanding population, scientists say. Australian researchers say they have developed a way of using specially calibrated LEDs to accelerate plant growth in spurts of up to 22 hours per day. The technique allows them to grow six generations of wheat, chickpea and barley in a year rather than the single generation of those crops that farmers now can typically grow annually. Scientists say the crops grown under far-red spectrum LEDs also look healthier than those grown in standard conditions.