Good News Notes: “A tortoise found in the Galapagos Islands in 2019 has been determined to belong to a species that scientists believed was extinct. DNA testing has confirmed that the female tortoise found on Fernandina Island is a member of the species Chelonoidis phantasticus. It had been “presumed extinct since 1906,” according to the Turtle…
Tag: discovery
‘A huge surprise’ as giant river otter feared extinct in Argentina pops up
Good News Notes: “It was a huge surprise,” said Sebastián Di Martino, director of conservation at Fundación Rewilding Argentina. “I was incredulous. An incredible feeling of so much happiness. I didn’t know if I should try to follow it or rush back to our station to tell the others.” The cause of the excitement was the…
Rare Owl With Bright Orange Eyes Seen for the First Time in More Than 125 Years
Good News Notes: “An easy way to find and identify a bird species is to listen for their unique calls. But Otus brookii brookii, a Bornean subspecies of the Rajah scops owl, hasn’t been observed by scientists since 1892, and its song is unknown, making it that much harder to find. Now, for the first time…
Florida scuba divers discover 50-pound Ice Age mammoth bone in river
Good News Notes: “Two Florida scuba divers uncovered a mammoth bone possibly dating back to the Ice Age while diving in a local river, according to reports. Derek Demeter and Henry Sadler found the four-foot, 50-pound bone in the Peace River near Acadia last Sunday, calling it an “amazing” discovery. “Henry is my dive buddy,” Demeter, Seminole State Planetarium’s director, told FOX…
Wild horses and donkeys dig wells in the desert, providing water for wildlife
Good News Notes: “Humans have a long history of digging wells, but we’re not the only species to tap the earth for water: New research reveals wild horses and donkeys, also known as burros, can as well. As described in a paper published April 29 in the journal Science, the animals use their hooves to dig more than…
Get a glimpse of southern Brazil’s paleoburrows — dug by prehistoric animals
Good News Notes: “A “paleoburrow” is a tunnel made by a prehistoric animal, likely an armadillo or an extinct, giant ground sloth, depending on the size of the hole. These extinct sloths were huge, some the size of a modern-day elephant. They dug very large tunnels. Almost 2,000 paleoburrows have been found across South America, mostly in…
We found methane-eating bacteria living in a common Australian tree. It could be a game changer for curbing greenhouse gases
Good News Notes: “Trees are the Earth’s lungs – it’s well understood they drawdown and lock up vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But emerging research is showing trees can also emit methane, and it’s currently unknown just how much. This could be a major problem, given methane is a greenhouse gas about…
3,200-year-old gold mask, leaves unearthed in China’s Sanxingdui
Good News Notes: “Chinese archaeologists have made major discoveries at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China’s Sichuan province that could help shed light on the cultural origins of the Chinese nation. Among those discovered are six new sacrificial pits and more than 500 items dating back about 3,000 years, with a golden face…
An 11-Year-Old Boy Found an Iron Age-Era Fertility Totem, the Second of Its Kind Ever Identified, on a Family Hiking Trip in Israel
Good News Notes: “A couple of weeks ago, a young boy was on a family hiking trip along the HaBesor streamin southern Israel when he came across an oblong stone that looked different than those around it. Turns out, it was. The child, 11-year-old Zvi Ben-David, had discovered an ancient figurine that predates the birth of…
Power technicians discover secret medieval tunnel under footpath in Wales
Good News Notes: “A secret medieval tunnel has been discovered near the site of a soaring 12th-century Abbey in Wales. Electrical workers from Western Power Distribution (WPD) in Wales accidentally discovered the tunnels while digging a hole for a new powerline pole in a customer’s backyard in Monmouthshire, near the English border. The human-made tunnel…