Herd Of Fuzzy Green 'Glacier Mice' Baffles Scientists

"In 2006, while hiking around the Root Glacier in Alaska to set up scientific instruments, researcher Tim Bartholomaus encountered something unexpected."

"'What the heck is this!' Bartholomaus recalls thinking. He's a glaciologist at the University of Idaho."

"Scattered across the glacier were balls of moss. 'They're not attached to anything and they're just resting there on ice,' he says. 'They're bright green in a world of white.'"

"Intrigued, he and two colleagues set out to study these strange moss balls. In the journal Polar Biology, they report that the balls can persist for years and move around in a coordinated, herdlike fashion that the researchers can not yet explain.

"'The whole colony of moss balls, this whole grouping, moves at about the same speeds and in the same directions,' Bartholomaus says. 'Those speeds and directions can change over the course of weeks.'"

In the 1950s, an Icelandic researcher described them in the Journal of Glaciology, noting that "rolling stones can gather moss." He called them "jökla-mýs" or "glacier mice."

"This new work adds to a very small body of research on these fuzz balls, even though glaciologists have long known about them and tend to be fond of them."

Shakespeare's Globe May Not Survive Pandemic, U.K. Lawmakers Warn

"A short plea on the website of Shakespeare's Globe theater underscores a bleak truth: 'As a charity that receives no regular government subsidy, we desperately need your support, more than ever before.'"

"The British cultural staple is in danger of closing permanently if it does not receive adequate funding to make up for losses from coronavirus-related lockdowns, according to the theater's leadership and documents from Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee."

"The theater is a replica of the original Globe Theatre, built in the late 16th century by the theater company to which Shakespeare belonged. The venue saw the debut of many of the Bard's plays, but it burned down in 1613. The current Globe is near the site of the original, on the banks of the River Thames, and has been a London icon and tourist destination since its opening in 1997."

"Because the Globe is not funded by the country's Arts Council England, it has been unable to qualify for any of the 160 million pounds (nearly $200 million) of emergency funding designed to support venues such as it. Instead, the theater depends on ticket sales, workshops and other revenue streams that require in-person contact."

Are There Zombie Viruses — Like The 1918 Flu — Thawing In The Permafrost?

"In the past few years, there has been a growing fear about a possible consequence of climate change: zombie pathogens. Specifically, bacteria and viruses — preserved for centuries in frozen ground — coming back to life as the Arctic's permafrost starts to thaw."

"The idea resurfaced in the summer of 2016 when a large anthrax outbreak struck Siberia."

"A heat wave in the Arctic thawed a thick layer of the permafrost, and a bunch of reindeer carcasses started to warm up. The animals had died of anthrax, and as their bodies thawed, so did the bacteria. Anthrax spores spread across the tundra. Dozens of people were hospitalized, and a 12-year-old boy died."

"On the surface, it looked as though zombie anthrax had somehow come back to life after being frozen for 70 years. What pathogen would be next? Smallpox? The 1918 flu?"

"The media took the idea of "zombie pathogens" and ran with it."

"'Climate change ... could awaken Earth's forgotten pathogens,"' The Atlantic wrote. 'Many of these pathogens may be able to survive a gentle thaw — and if they do, researchers warn, they could reinfect humanity.'"

"'Scientists are witnessing the theoretical turning into reality: infectious microbes emerging from a deep freeze,' Scientific American wrote."

'It Seemed Apocalyptic' 40 Years Ago When Mount St. Helens Erupted

"By then, heavy ashfall closed roads, schools and airports across eastern Washington. Even mail delivery stopped. The ash was blinding for drivers and dangerous if inhaled. It seized the engines of cars and caused a run on pantyhose, which was then wrapped around carburetors and air filters for protection."

"None of that compared to what it was like up close and inside that volcanic maelstrom."

"And it all began without warning. Despite two months of earthquakes, ashfall and a growing bulge on the north side of the mountain, the night before was quiet. That morning was tranquil. The cone-shaped mountain had a white mantle of snow."

"'If there had been an emission [of ash] it would be black,' reported Gerry Martin, a ham radio operator stationed on a ridge 8 miles from the summit. Martin was part of a network of volunteers monitoring the mountain for Washington's emergency management agency."

"'We'll see what happens today,' he said."

Do Those Birds Sound Louder To You? An Ornithologist Says You're Just Hearing Things

"People around the world are reporting that birds are much louder these days."

"But Sue Anne Zollinger, an ornithologist from Manchester Metropolitan University, cautions: Don't believe everything you hear."

"With the decrease in traffic, there's less noise pollution. That means birds have less noise to compete with, she says. (Scroll down to the end of this story to listen for yourself.)"

"'Although our perception might be that they're singing louder, it's actually likely in places that are typically noisy that they're singing more quietly than normal,' Zollinger said in an interview with Morning Edition.'But when the noise is gone, they're probably singing quieter than they do normally.'"

"In other words, birds are like us: In a noisy bar, for example, people will raise their voices."

"Zollinger says that idea gels with current research on bird noise patterns."

"'We know from some earlier studies in the city of Berlin that birds sing quieter on the weekend mornings during the time that's normally rush hour than they do during rush hour during the week because the noise levels are lower,' she said. 'And that's probably what's happening now.'"

'1st Time To See It Like This': Petra Tourism Workers Long For Visitors To Return

"In the ancient city of Petra, Jordan's best-known tourist destination, bird song echoes against the multicolored rock and the elaborate monuments instead of the din of tour groups and souvenir-sellers."

"The coronavirus pandemic has done what war did not — bring this Middle Eastern country's vital tourism industry to a dramatic halt, and with it, the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers."

"'This is so strange — it is the first time to see it like this,' says tour guide Mohammad Awwad, who had foreign tourists to lead through Petra even with war raging next door in Iraq in 2003. On March 15, Jordan closed archaeological sites and banned visitors from entering the country as it prepared its lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

"Walking through the long narrow passage between 300-foot-high canyon walls, it's so quiet you can hear the flutter of birds' wings."

"At a café facing the Treasury, an elaborate colonnaded mausoleum carved into the rose-colored rock where tourists normally pose with camels, hungry cats jump up on empty tables and chairs. A hawk wheels high above the striated rock as the sun comes up behind the mountains. Sparrows hop along the gravel paths usually trod by tourists."

"Most souvenir shop owners have left their wares sitting on tables, as if they meant to come back any minute. Earrings dangle from a plastic stand next to an overturned sign advertising silver and soft drinks. Shelves open to the elements hold hundreds of bottles filled with colored sand artfully arranged in the shapes of camels and mountains."

A Flying Photographer Looks Down On Earth In Awe And Sorrow

"He describes it as a 'leaf blower with a parachute overhead.'"

"Strap in, and 'your body becomes the fuselage' — and you are the pilot. Your knees dangle into open air."

"For 15 years, the contraption, called a motorized paraglider, has taken photographer George Steinmetz across 25 different countries. From airport to airport, Steinmetz carried his personal aircraft, which could be disassembled and stashed in three bags, each weighing about 50 pounds, that he would proceed to check in."

"Launching himself over remote swaths of desert, stark Arctic terrains and cheek-by-jowl shorelines, Steinmetz has documented, from the sky, the way human activity has shaped Earth. The result is The Human Planet: Earth at the Dawn of the Anthropocene, a photographic record of our planet in the anthropocene age — a word that refers to the mark humans have made on the global landscape ("anthropos" is Greek for human). The accompanying text is by science writer Andrew Revkin."

"NPR spoke to Steinmetz about what it was like to glide over some of the most isolated regions in the world — and about the overwhelming signs he saw of humanity's footprint."

How Safe Is It To Eat Takeout?

"Don Schaffner had Thai takeout for dinner a few nights ago, just as he did occasionally in the weeks and months before the current COVID-19 pandemic."

"That's worth knowing. Schaffner is a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey whose expertise includes quantitative microbial risk assessment, predictive food microbiology, hand-washing and cross-contamination."

"'I know people are worried, but from what we know currently about the virus, it's safe to eat food prepared at restaurants so long as you take the proper precautions — in particular hand-washing,' says Schaffner."

"As the coronavirus spreads in the U.S. and Americans heed directives to stay home, takeout and delivery of prepared food is picking up. Yet in these fearful times, many of us are wondering if eating takeout is a good idea. (Plus shouldn't we be cooking all those groceries we stocked up on?)"

"Luckily for lazy cooks, eating food prepared in restaurants appears to be a safe choice. Current guidance from the Food and Drug Administration states that 'there is no evidence to suggest that food produced in the United States can transmit COVID-19.'"

"Infectious disease and food safety experts we spoke to say they base their determination that takeout food is safe on decades of research on other coronaviruses, which were first identified in humans in the 1960s."

In Azerbaijan, You May Find Yourself Behind The Wheel Of A Lada Automobile

"Nestled between Russia and Iran — at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia — the small country of Azerbaijan is as culturally diverse as it is geographically varied. Azerbaijani landscapes range from snowy, forested peaks in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in the north, to windswept beaches along the Caspian Sea, to arid desert just outside of the capital city of Baku. It's also known as the Land of Fire due to a natural phenomenon where gas seeps through fissures in the earth and ignites."

"In his project Lada Landscapes, photographer Thomas Marsden takes the viewer on a photographic road trip through the ever-changing landscapes of Azerbaijan. He was also drawn to one of the region's most iconic cars: the Lada."

"Marsden acknowledges that like many Western tourists who visit the region, he found the cars intriguing. 'Coming from the West, they symbolize a different kind of ideology,' he said. 'It has the whole Soviet historical influence, which, in the West, was a whole different world that we didn't have contact with, so it's kind of a curiosity to see them everywhere.'"

Long-Lost U.S. Military Satellite Found By Amateur Radio Operator

"There are more than 2,000 active satellites orbiting Earth. At the end of their useful lives, many will simply burn up as they reenter the atmosphere. But some will continue circling as "zombie" satellites — neither alive nor quite dead."

"'Most zombie satellites are satellites that are no longer under human control, or have failed to some degree,' says Scott Tilley."

"Tilley, an amateur radio operator living in Canada, has a passion for hunting them down."

"In 2018, he found a signal from a NASA probe called IMAGE that the space agency had lost track of in 2005. With Tilley's help, NASA was able to reestablish contact."

"But he has tracked down zombies even older than IMAGE."

"'The oldest one I've seen is Transit 5B-5. And it launched in 1965,' he says, referring to a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy navigation satellite that still circles the Earth in a polar orbit, long forgotten by all but a few amateurs interested in hearing it "sing" as it passes overhead."

"Recently, Tilley got interested in a communications satellite he thought might still be alive — or at least among the living dead. LES-5, built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, was launched in 1967."

'We Haven't Learned From History': 'Radio Influenza' Is A Warning From 1918

"The last great pandemic struck the world more than 100 years ago. But voices from that time can still be heard in Radio Influenza, a haunting work of audio art available online."

"The voices are not real. They're computerized. They sound tinny and faraway as they read fragments of newspaper stories from 1918, when the so-called Spanish flu ravaged the planet. Still, these fleeting dispatches from the past are uncannily relevant."

"'A man with a cold can easily throw it twelve feet by a sneeze,' cautions an entry from Oct. 2, 1918. 'Therefore, he must be kept at a distance. Sneezing and coughing unscreened by a handkerchief should be regarded as an assault. The sick animal who creeps away by himself until he has recovered shows an example that man would do well to follow.'"

"Radio Influenza was created by Jordan Baseman, an American artist who works in London. He didn't want the project to sentimentalize or romanticize the past. "I wanted it to sound like a broadcast from a dystopian future," he explains. 'So what we hear are artificial voices that I've manipulated to sound ... kind of real?'"

"Baseman started Radio Influenza two years ago to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people worldwide. There's an audio entry for each day of that year. Not all entries are taken verbatim from newspapers. Some are cobbled together, with a certain amount of what Baseman calls "intervention." (This is art, after all, not journalism.)"

How Cellphones Can Keep People Learning Around The World

"Standing in front of a small tropical tree, a man in flip-flops, trousers and a polo shirt bends over what he calls, in a video made for NPR, a 'handwashing facility'".

"It's a plastic jug, hanging from what looks like a knee-high swing set made of sticks. There's another stick tied to the handle of the jug; you can step on that stick, spill water out of the jug, and wash your hands without ever touching the jug. A bar of soap hangs from the swingset by a string."

'After getting some soap, you rub the hands well to identify the areas where germs can be," says the man in the video: Agaba Emmanuel. He's a community educator in Uganda with a program called Soma Soma. Next, Mukandayisenga Chantal, a small boy in a blue T-shirt, gives it a try, making circles with his fingernails on his palms."

"Emmanuel lives and works in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in southwestern Uganda. The settlement hosts more than 100,000 people from several different African countries, like Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. It's a group of rural villages, and there are no identified cases of coronavirus yet."

"But the schools are still shut, along with other restrictions on commerce and transportation across Uganda to protect against the pandemic. People need basic information about social distancing and other protections. Emmanuel got the information he needed to educate his community over WhatsApp, using a platform designed by an American company that's also starting to be used with students in the United States."

Climate Change Undercuts Air Pollution Improvements

"The number of people breathing unhealthy air in the United States is increasing despite decades of declines in the overall amount of air pollution being released, and climate change is a major cause."

"The latest data on the nation's air comes from the American Lung Association, a public health group. The group's 21st annual State of the Air report warns that climate change is undercutting decades of regulatory progress that has reduced pollution from factories, cars, power plants and other major air pollution sources, because more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires are leading to more days with dangerously high levels of ozone and particulate matter."

"Hot weather helps create ozone, or smog. "Emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide cook in the presence of sunlight to create ozone or smog," explains Paul Billings, the senior vice president for public policy at the American Lung Association."

"'What we've seen is that hot weather is making it more difficult to achieve health-based [air quality] standards,' Billings explains. Even though overall emissions are down, 'climate change makes the conditions for formation of smog or ozone easier, so we need to do more to reduce the underlying emissions.'"

Scientists Are Human, Too: Questions For Cartoonist Tom Gauld

"Cartoonist and literary jokester Tom Gauld usually lampoons classic novels and the predicaments of the writing life. But in his new book, Department of Mind-Blowing Theories — collecting comics from his ongoing column in New Scientist magazine — he turns his pen to the realm of science (and occasionally science fiction)."

"In an email interview, Gauld tells me his grandfather, a marine biologist, was one of his influences as he was drawing these comics."

"'I don't recall talking to him much about his work while he was alive, but I do remember going to visit him at the University where he worked when I was quite young and getting a tour of the museum,' Gauld says. 'He was a quiet and thoughtful man and I think because of him, the whole family had a respect for science and scientists. He subscribed to New Scientist (the magazine where the cartoons in this book first appeared) and would give them to my Dad after he'd read them, so there were always copies around our house as I was growing up."

"Scientists are having a hard time right now — misinformation is so hard to combat, and increasingly people seem to want to believe what accords with their own politics. Why did you decide to create this book, right now?"

"You're right, I think scientists are getting an unfairly tough ride at the moment. I like to think that this book, even while it is making fun of scientists, expresses my genuine admiration for what most of them do. Hopefully the cartoons feel like teasing from a friend."

Ever Wonder 'What It's Like To Be A Bird'? David Allen Sibley Has Some Answers

"A bird's experience is far richer, complex, and 'thoughtful' than I'd imagined."

"This sentence on the first page of David Allen Sibley's What It's Like to Be a Bird is a stunner. A renowned author-illustrator of bird field guides, Sibley is a top bird expert. When he did research for this new volume, though, he became convinced of something he had not previously anticipated: Birds routinely make complex decisions and experience emotions."

"And if that was news to me after a lifetime of watching birds," Sibley writes, "it must be surprising to other people as well." Wholly engaging, What It's Like to be a Bird is a feast for the mind and, thanks to Sibley's gorgeous illustrations, the eye.

"Often when birds forage, they think. Titmice are small songbirds related to chickadees who use reasoning to figure out which seeds offer the best return for effort expended. It won't automatically be the biggest seeds around, because "if a small seed has high fat content and a lot of calories it could be the best choice." This "multi-faceted decision-making is going on every time a titmouse visits a bird feeder." Birds may decide to eat later in the day when they spot predators near, thus keeping at flight-ready status in case escape maneuvers are needed."

"To be called "bird-brained" is clearly a compliment. Egrets strike at fish in the water to make a meal. But thanks to refraction, the fish isn't actually located where it appears to be. "Knowing where the real fish is requires a complex calculation of light and depth," Sibley notes. Experiments reveal that when"

Isolation Diary: Photographers Document Their Experience With COVID-19

"After hearing the news of President Trump's ban on travel from Europe to the United States on March 11, photographer Pete Kiehart bought a ticket home to America. He and girlfriend Kasia Strek are typically based in Paris, but she was already stateside working on a documentary project. They decided to meet at his parents' home in North Carolina."

"'Kiehart was exhausted from the transatlantic flight and took his temperature on his way home from the airport. It was higher than normal, so he called a local clinic. Two days later, he tested positive for COVID-19.'"

"'I was running this fever but I didn't feel particularly feverish,' Kiehart said. 'Were it not for this crazy time we're in, I probably wouldn't have taken off work.'"

"Kiehart had mild symptoms of COVID-19 and did not experience the severe respiratory issues that can result in hospitalization. Still, that did little to quell the family's worst fears."

"'Right after Pete got the test results, I learned that a friend of a friend had died the day before because of the coronavirus. He was Pete's age,' Strek said. 'It was very, very scary for me, especially knowing there was absolutely nothing we could do [for him].'"

Deep Sea Squid Communicate by Glowing Like E-Readers

"Deep in the Pacific Ocean, six-foot-long Humboldt squid are known for being aggressive, cannibalistic and, according to new research, good communicators."

"Known as "red devils," the squid can rapidly change the color of their skin, making different patterns to communicate, something other squid species are known to do."

"But Humboldt squid live in almost total darkness more than 1,000 feet below the surface, so their patterns aren't very visible. Instead, according to a new study, they create backlighting for the patterns by making their bodies glow, like the screen of an e-reader."

"'Right now, what blows my mind is there's probably squid talking to each other in the deep ocean and they're probably sharing all sorts of cool information,' said Ben Burford, a graduate student at Stanford University."

"Humboldt squid crowd together in large, fast-moving groups to feed on small fish and other prey."

"'When you watch them it looks like frenzy,' Burford said. 'But if you pay close attention, they're not touching each other. They're not bumping into each other.'"

The Oldest String Ever Found May Have Been Made By Neanderthals

"Tiny bits of twisted plant fibers found on an ancient stone tool suggest that Neanderthals were able to make and use sophisticated cords like string and rope."

"Cords made from twisted fibers are so ubiquitous today that it's easy to take them for granted. But they're a key survival technology that can be used to make everything from clothes to bags to shelters."

"This prehistoric piece of string, described in the journal Scientific Reports, was preserved on a flint tool that dates back to around 41,000 to 52,000 years ago. It came from a cave-like rock shelter in southern France that was once inhabited by Neanderthals."

"The discovery adds to growing evidence that our closest extinct human relative wasn't as dumb as scientists had long assumed."

"'They are this sort of ultimate 'other,' this creature that is very similar to us yet somehow is supposed to be too stupid to live,' said Bruce Hardy, a paleoanthropologist at Kenyon College in Ohio. He points out that Neanderthals were smart enough to have persisted for hundreds of thousands of years before eventually disappearing around 40,000 years ago."

In Thailand, Growing Concern For Elephants As Coronavirus Pummels Tourism

"On a March morning at the Maetaeng Elephant Park in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province, the elephants and their handlers, called mahouts, were entertaining visitors with tricks. Elephants painted pictures with their trunks and deftly back-kicked soccer balls into a net."

"Maetaeng is one of the biggest wildlife camps in the north, with 85 elephants. They are also available for guests to ride or go trekking with in the surrounding hills."

"It's a lucrative business in normal times. On a good day, says communications director Dhanapume Asoke-trakul, the camp draws about 1,000 visitors, mostly from China or other Asian countries. But this was not a good day."

"He counted the crowd with his finger."

"'One, two, three, four, five, six seven...' He stopped. 'Fourteen,' he said. 'Fourteen, from 1,000 people a day.'"

"He laughed grimly."

Tips From Someone With Nearly 50 Years Of Social Distancing Experience

"We're all social distancing these days, and it's unclear when exactly that will end. But Billy Barr has been doing this for almost 50 years. He's the only full-time resident of Gothic, Colo."

"'I'm the mayor and chief of police,' he said. 'I hold elections every year, but I don't tell anybody when they are, so it works out really well.'"

"He lives in an abandoned silver mine at nearly 10,000 feet in altitude in the Rocky Mountains. 'The snow's going sideways, it's swirling,' Billy Barr said of the local weather."

"Barr has tips on social distancing, but he's the first to say they may well be entirely useless."

"''When I first got here, it was a relief for me to be on my own, but that's not necessarily what a healthy person does — isolate themself,' he said. 'I mean, I'm good at it and I do it because I like it, but what works for me, it works for me. It quite conceivably wouldn't work for anybody else.'"

"While Barr has been called a hermit, he doesn't consider himself one. He occasionally interacts with skiers who pass through, he talks to his sister on the phone, and he works for the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory nearby, which gets flooded with scientists in the summer."