Lost Memories and Empty Forests: The Passenger Pigeon
Can we miss a memory we’ve never had? Few people realize that the hardwood forests of eastern U.S. are now devoid of what was once the most abundant bird in North America – the passenger pigeon.
Battling Environmental Depression: Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene
Many people confess to feeling depressed or pessimistic about the state of the global environment, but ‘Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene’ can help.
Dodos, Dimwits, and Fat Arses
Ever wonder about the knee caps of extinct dodos? Scientific discoveries challenge our preconceptions about extinct species like the dodo (e.g., weak, dim-witted, poorly adapted, inevitably doomed, etc.).
Zombie Science
While it’s scary to realize there real zombies in the real world, we also have the living dead among us right now in the form of endangered species that cannot be saved from extinction.
Are Worms Natural? The Global Worming Debate
To be more specific, are earthworms natural? For the chronically busy and distracted, the short answer to that question is – absolutely not! Earthworms are not natural! Not even a little bit! At least they’re not natural if they’re non-native, introduced earthworms that are devouring the forest floor and radically changing the ecology of some … Continue reading
Vertical Farming Part 2: Pumpkins in the Sky
Imagine if we could grow vegetables and other crops up in tall trees. Just think of all the space we could save. Okay, maybe not. I can see some of you are thinking about pumpkins and watermelons dropping out of wind-blown tree tops, like David Letterman throwing things off of a five story building … Continue reading
Are Polar Bears Really Endangered?
The technical answer to this question is no. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were declared to be a threatened species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in May, 2008. The threatened classification means that the species is vulnerable to becoming endangered in the future. Perhaps the more interesting question is – how many of the … Continue reading
Vertical Farming Part 1: Could WSU Feed the City of Pullman?
Vertical farming is a brand new concept that originated in about 1909. No, that’s not a typo. So why are we getting excited about it now, over 100 years later? In 1909, the burgeoning growth of the world’s human population and the need for food production didn’t seem quite as pressing as it does today … Continue reading
Rod Sayler
Nature @ WSU 