#grolars

I like this piece by Tim McDonnell in Nautilus Magazine about how melting ice in the Arctic is putting species that haven’t interacted in tens of thousands of years near each other again, and apparently they’re mating. I like adventures in the Arctic, and what better way to learn about climate change and evolution than from a new kind of bear called a grolar?

More coverage on the cod fishery collapse in Maine, but this time through the lens of how the Gulf of Maine’s waters are warming faster than most places on Earth. Always exciting to see enviro news get above-the-fold Monday morning NYTimes coverage.

From Susannah Locke at Vox, a piece I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF that breaks down how to be a more savvy science reader. Locke should have titled this winner “Duped No More.”

Also this week, Nature pulled together the best available data on species loss in an interactive visual report of life on Earth. Science in pretty pictures is clearly my cup of tea.

“Was it my choice to have the dressing on the side? Is that my legacy?” New research shows scientists found less tiny bits of plastic in the ocean than expected. They literally can’t find it anywhere. That’s not good. Over at The Conversation, Magnus Johnson and Melanie Cull explain that microplastic can be absorbed by individual cells, freaky deaky, AND that this teeny tiny plastic is actually really efficient at carrying hormones and drugs that mess with everything.

Joe Hanson on the science of why some people don’t believe in climate change.

In happier news, via Ed Yong, the world’s oldest, wild, banded bird, an albatross named Wisdom, aged 63, just laid an egg.