This beautiful newly-discovered species is about to disappear soon

This beautiful newly-discovered species is about to disappear soon

"Just described ‘microjewel’ snail in extinction danger," announces NewScientist. Every time I see a headline like that and I look a the picture, it really makes me sad. Just admire that beautiful, delicate little beast. Which secrets will this soon-to-be-gone species take away with it?

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This Wind-Powered Tumbleweed Robot Aims to End Desertification

This Wind-Powered Tumbleweed Robot Aims to End Desertification

Robots have a hard time walking. They’re getting better! But we’re a ways away from having a robot that you can send on an excursion through a dune-covered desert. That’s why, when he wanted to design a robot to collect climate data, designer Shlomi Mir looked to nature. Specifically, to tumbleweeds.

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How a Poorly Camouflaged Insect Reshapes Its Ecosystem

How a Poorly Camouflaged Insect Reshapes Its Ecosystem

For an insect trying to avoid becoming dinner, the consequences of bad camouflage are clear. What’s less obvious is how the effects then ripple like an aftershock through an entire ecosystem, subtly changing which shrubs are eaten and which critters thrive. For example, the consequences of a single species of badly camouflaged walking stick insect can cascade throughout the California hills.

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Swarms of Drones Will Be Mapping the World All By Themselves in No Time

Swarms of Drones Will Be Mapping the World All By Themselves in No Time

You’re probably used to hearing about drones as these scary, deadly things causing chaos in Pakistan, but the scientific community is actually pretty pumped up about the technology. Why wouldn’t they be? Drones can makes 3D maps of mountains.

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