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In response to the critical decline in the numbers of African and Asian elephants due to habitat loss and poaching, a geneticist is proposing the creation of a hybrid species that is a cross between one of the existing elephant species and a long-extinct wooly mammoth, to allow them to inhabit a broader range of habitats. Additionally, the researcher is proposing that these new creatures be given further genetic tweaks to offer them other traits, such as smaller tusks to make them less attractive to ivory poachers.
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A new study of seashells excavated from ancient glacial deposits in Scotland indicate that the region’s glaciers melted over a relatively short period of time–a period spanning only a few decades, and possibly as short as a matter of years–illustrating the abruptness of past climate change events, and how those events could serve as a warning as to how quickly our modern environment could also take an abrupt turn.
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Defense contractor Lockheed Martin was recently awarded a patent for a novel design of compact nuclear fusion reactor, a device presumably small enough to be housed in a standard shipping container. According to earlier promotional material released by the company, the reactor’s compact design could be used not only for commercial energy-generating applications, but also incorporated into ocean-going ships and aircraft to vastly extend the vehicles’ ranges. In terms of generating electricity for commercial use, the device could also be used to replace not only nuclear waste-producing fission reactors, but also fossil fuel-based electrical generators, dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of our civilization’s thirst for energy.
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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, global average surface temperatures for the first three months of 2018 have eased off of their record-breaking streaks seen in recent years, with January and March each being only the fifth warmest months for their respective months, and February coming in as the 11th hottest February in the 139-year record. While this trend looks good on the surface, NOAA points out that each of these months’ temperatures are still well above the 20th century average, meaning we’re still far from out of the global warming gutter.
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