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American Eels Return to Mountain Streams after Dam Removal

Shenandoah National Park, Va. – American eels are declining across their range but are showing indications of a population revival following the removal of a large dam in Virginia.

The removal of Embrey Dam on the Rappahannock River increased American eel numbers in headwater streams nearly 100 miles away, according to research just published by U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service researchers.

American eels undergo long-distance migrations from their ocean spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea to freshwater streams along the Atlantic coast from northern South America to Greenland. Dams may slow or even stop upstream eel migrations. However, prior to this research, little was known about American eel responses to dam removal. (more…)

Critically Endangered Whales Sing Like Birds; New Recordings Hint At Rebound

Nature

When a University of Washington researcher listened to the audio picked up by a recording device that spent a year in the icy waters off the east coast of Greenland, she was stunned at what she heard: whales singing a remarkable variety of songs nearly constantly for five wintertime months. (more…)

China Olympics Traffic Measures Cut Carbon Emissions

Environment

A new NASA-funded study of the impacts of China’s traffic restrictions for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing shows how widespread changes in transportation patterns could greatly reduce the threat of climate change. (more…)

How to Become a Bounty Hunter

Jobs

Bounty hunting, or the practice of apprehending fugitives for a monetary reward, is often something that conjures up images of men or women who operates outside of the law and bring criminals to justice through legally ambiguous means. In reality however, bounty hunting, also known as skip tracing, is a necessary part of the modern criminal justice system in the United States. This article will serve as a basic explanation of how bounty hunters operate, their purpose in society and their basic day-to-day operations in bringing those who fail to appear in court to justice through legal means.

As a profession bounty hunting is something that is often romanticized by movies and other media. However, the job is actually a fairly technical and adheres to the same stringent due process laws that cops and courts are subject to. Bounty hunting is also a profession that depends on a thorough knowledge of laws and legal precedent, something that often requires a college-level education that many overlook. (more…)

Exeter Physicist Bends Light Waves on Surfboards

Science

A University of Exeter scientist is bringing together his passions for Physics and surfing with research that could inspire a host of new technologies. Dr Matt Lockyear is using foam from inside surfboards to make materials that can manipulate light.

Scientists across the globe are trying to develop materials that can refract light to create ‘invisibility cloaks’, which are of particular interest to the aerospace industry. ‘Invisibility cloaking’ means building properties into a material that allow the device to guide light waves around an object, making it invisible. (more…)

Estimate: A New Amish Community is Founded Every 3 1/2 Weeks in U.S.

Culture, Politics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new census of the Amish population in the United States estimates that a new Amish community is founded, on average, about every 3 ½ weeks, and shows that more than 60 percent of all existing Amish settlements have been founded since 1990. (more…)

Deadly E. coli Strain Decoded

Health, Science

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The secret to the deadly 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany has been decoded, thanks to research conducted at Michigan State University.

The deadliest E. coli outbreak ever, which caused 54 deaths and sickened more than 3,800 people, was traced to a particularly virulent strain that researchers had never seen in an outbreak before. In the current issue of the academic journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers led by Shannon Manning, MSU molecular biologist and epidemiologist, suggests a way to potentially tame the killer bacteria. (more…)

Public Sightings Suggest Increase in Basking Sharks in British Waters

Nature

The number of basking sharks recorded in Britain’s seas could be increasing, decades after being protected from commercial hunting in the late 20^th century.

The most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of basking shark sightings in UK waters, by the University of Exeter, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) and Wave Action, is published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

The northeast Atlantic hosted an extensive commercial fishery for basking sharks, mainly in Norway, Ireland and Scotland, where more than 81,000 were killed between 1952 and 2004, hunted largely for their liver oil. Large-scale hunting ended in the UK in the middle of the twentieth century, though it continued at low levels in Norway until 2000. (more…)