Fat Bear Week is officially underway. The 10th annual contest will determine 2024’s best hefty hibernator currently chowing down on salmon in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. From October 2-8, millions of people tune into Explore.org’s live streams overlooking Brooks River—one of the region’s most popular spots for brown bears to chow down and bulk up ahead of the winter. More than 1.3 million people cast their ballot last year, and relied on these video feeds to catch a glimpse of the bears in action. That puts a lot of responsibility on people like BJ Kirschhoffer, a conservation technologist working with Explore.org to ensure cameras are properly placed, installed, and maintained not just for Fat Bear Week, but for wildlife regions around the world.

“You know, there really isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to where our cameras are mounted,” Kirschoffer tells Popular Science. “We can bolt stuff down to rocks if there are rocks there. If it’s just sand, we’ve got big screws that we send into the earth to hold our stuff in place. We’ve sort of become experts in just being adaptable and working in a place where there’s no hardware store.”

But Kirschoffer says his team is “pretty lucky” at Brooks Falls, given its logistics are more straightforward than some of Explore.org’s other feed locations, such as underwater coral reefs or owl nests. The national park has a long history of tourists visiting both to fish and peep at the bears. An elevated platform built near the river provides a lookout point for people (and keeps them separated from the hungry predators), so Kirschoffer’s crew took advantage of that for Fat Bear Week by mounting their cameras directly on the structure.

“The cam views are the same view you might have if you’re standing there right at Brooks Falls,” he says.

Even so, the annual event’s famed fat bears don’t live and eat in the most easily accessible part of the world—especially during the depths of winter when the forests are blanketed with snow. Because of this, the bear cams need to be resilient enough to withstand extreme climate conditions, and support enough power to continue working for long stretches of time. At Brooks Falls, this means a combination of both off- and on-grid cameras. Given how much strong wind regularly tears through the park, one might think it could provide a steady source of sustainable energy—but as Kirschhoffer explains, the wind speeds actually work to their disadvantage.

“We played around a little bit with wind generators… [but] I mean, just the true raw power of nature there can be witnessed from time to time,” he says. “You’re really not that far from Bristol Bay when you’re at Brooks Camp. The powers there, what the weather can do is just, I mean, it’s pretty amazing.”

Luckily, solar power has stepped in as a cheap and reliable alternative to keep cameras up and running nearly 24/7. As is the case with any technology, however, regular maintenance is required. Kirschhoffer estimates repairs are needed at Brooks Falls roughly twice a year, most often due to either wind or water damage. Other locations, such as marine environments, can be even harder on cameras and require annual tune-ups. Ideally, though, Kirschhoffer says repairs are only needed at most sites every two-ish years.

As for the cameras themselves, you expect state-of-the-art, high-tech installations. In actuality, most of the setups (including Fat Bear cams) are pretty mundane. You might even own similar rigs yourself.

“You know, most of our stuff we actually use are security cameras,” Kirschhoffer says. “Mostly because these things are really tailored to be outside.”

These setups often also include features such as “Pan-Tilt-Zoom” capabilities that allow controllers to adjust angles in real-time, and their windshield wipers are perfect for Brooks Falls’ damp surroundings. Kirschhoffer says he’s used cameras from most of the major security camera manufacturers. While your home cameras might only catch the occasional package delivery or dog walker, it’s at least nice to know they could likely handle filming an internationally beloved fat bear contest in a pinch. 

“I think it’s pretty special to be involved in something like this,” says Kirschhoffer. “These places that we put these cameras most of the time are very inaccessible or very expensive to get to. So to be able to provide a view for free that people, for whatever reason or another, aren’t able to make it out there… That’s pretty special. I’m excited that people like it as much as I do.”

The Fat Bear voting bracket continues through October 8, but thanks to Kirschhoffer and Explore.org, fans can tune in to Brooks Falls year round.

The post How the Fat Bear Week crew gets that beautiful bear footage appeared first on Popular Science.

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California’s Room to Roam Act (AB 1889), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last week, requires local governments to “minimize the disruption of wildlife movement” and calls for wildlife-friendly fencing and lighting in new development.

According to a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity, the new bill recognizes the impacts of human development on wildlife habitat and migration. “Light pollution can confuse migrating birds and make them crash into buildings, while poorly designed fences can unintentionally trap deer and other wildlife. Many animals like mountain lions and desert tortoises are struggling because ill-conceived development has sliced up their habitat, leaving them unable to find food and shelter. Some suffer from harmful inbreeding due to habitat fragmentation.”

The new law complements the Safe Roads and Wildlife Protection Act (AB 2344), which prioritizes wildlife crossings on state highways. The world’s largest wildlife crossing, which will span the 101 freeway near the Santa Monica Mountains, broke ground in Los Angeles in April of this year.

• Wildlife Crossings
• wildlife corridor
• Conservation
• Wildlife
• Urban wildlife
• Transportation Planning

Pterosaurs dominated Mesozoic skies with their intimidating wingspans. But first, they needed to walk around on the ground. A study published October 4 in the journal Current Biology found that the adaptations in their hands and feet from their earlier tree and ground-dwelling days likely played a major role in the evolution of their aerial dominance and wingspans that could reach 32 feet.

Long before birds, pterosaurs were the first true flying vertebrates. While they are best known for their flight skills during the Mesozoic Era (252 to 66 million years ago), where and how they lived when not airborne varied greatly. 

In the new study, a team from the University of Leicester in England examined the hands and feet from pterosaur fossils from around the world across their evolutionary history. 

The team was surprised by a level of variation in the bones that is similar to what we see in living birds. The variation indicates that pterosaurs were more than just great fliers. Pterosaur species were well-adapted to live in a wide range of terrestrial habitats, including up in the trees and closer to the ground.

“Early pterosaurs were highly specialized for climbing, with extreme modifications in their hands and feet, similar to those found in climbing lizards and birds like woodpeckers today,” study co-author and University of Leicester paleontologist Robert Smyth said in a statement. “Clinging to vertical surfaces by your fingertips for long periods is hard work–it’s a lot easier for small, lightweight animals.” 

These early pterosaur species were likely restricted to arboreal habitats, which made them physically smaller. However, a major evolutionary shift was in store during the Middle Jurassic period. Pterosaur hands and feet began to look much more like those of ground-dwelling animals. These adaptations for ground-based movements like walking opened the pterosaurs up to new ecological opportunities and more feeding strategies. Now that they were free from the size constraints of living in trees, some pterosaur species went on to evolve their gigantic wingspans.  

“In early pterosaurs the hind limbs were connected by a flight membrane which severely impeded walking and running. In later, more advanced pterosaurs, this membrane became separated along the midline, allowing each hind limb to move independently,” study co-author and University of Leicester paleobiologist David Unwin said in a statement. “This was a key innovation that, combined with changes to their hands and feet, greatly improved pterosaurs’ mobility on the ground.

According to the team, the details of the hands and feet are a clear giveaway. Early pterosaurs had bones at the base of the fingers and toes were relatively short. The bones farther from the body were much longer and ended in large, curved claws. Both of these modifications together gave them a powerful grip that was ideal for climbing.

The later and more advanced pterosaurs had the opposite patterns. The bones positioned at the base of their fingers and toes were much longer, while the ones closer to the tips were shorter. They also had flatter and less curved claws, which suggested that these species were better adapted for walking rather than climbing. 

By the time pterosaurs moved from trees to the ground, it was already inhabited by lots of other animals, including dinosaurs and numerous other reptiles. To avoid competition with these more established species, pterosaurs exploited ecological niches that required both flying and walking abilities. The result was some bizarre feeding strategies. Some pterosaurs had hundreds of fine, needle-like teeth for filter-feeding, the same way that modern day flamingos do. 

“These findings underscore the need to examine all aspects of pterosaur locomotion, not just flight, to fully understand their evolution,” said Smyth. “That pterosaurs could fly is only one part of their story. By exploring how they lived in the trees or on the ground, we can begin to understand the roles that they played in ancient ecosystems.”

The post The first true flying vertebrates walked before they could soar appeared first on Popular Science.

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A newly released plan from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office outlines the state’s plan for preserving “special traditions, collections and places” categorized under four key areas: building the heritage community; preservation planning; identifying, evaluating, designating, and treating cultural resources; federal , state, and local government; and information technology tools.

As a KTVZ article explains, “The plan includes goals and objectives to address each issue, and work to include more people and broaden the scope of the history preserved it threaded through the response to each issue.” The plan calls for proactively identifying cultural resources and planning for their future, increasing government transparency and efficiency in preservation efforts, and digitizing resources and collections from various institutions.

The document encourages collaboration between various stakeholders including federal, local, and tribal governments, local museums and historical societies, community groups, and others. “The plan emphasizes how these actors can take action and work together to enhance livability, community connection, and economic development through preservation of and access to cultural resources.”

• Historic Preservation
• Historic Resources
• Cultural Resources

Newly revealed plans show Austin’s finalized vision for capping Interstate 35 after the Texas Department of Transportation lowers the main lanes below street level to accommodate deck parks. 

Nathan Bernier describes the proposal, which includes a series of ‘caps and stitches,’ for KUT News. “Caps are more than 300 feet wide, and require advanced ventilation and fire suppression technology for the lanes below. Stitches are essentially caps that are less than 300 feet wide and don't require as much equipment.”

But don’t expect to walk around on top of I-35 anytime soon: “While the first cap could open as soon as 2032, a child born today would have graduated college by the time the plans depicted below are fully constructed,” Bernier notes. (See the source article for images.) Funding for the full project also remains unclear, although it has received some federal grants.

Bernier provides a walkthrough of the plans, outlining the key elements of each portion of the project. “Austin has to prove to TxDOT that it's serious about the capping project. The city must pay the state $19 million by the end of the year to finish engineering designs for the base caps. Local officials must also present TxDOT with a funding plan that shows how the city will pay for everything.”

• Austin
• Interstate 35
• Freeway Caps
• Cap Parks
• freeway deck park
• Texas Department of Transportation
• Transportation Planning
• Urban Planning

Do wombats–the boxy Australian marsupials already famous for their cube-shaped poop–use their butts to kill? A viral video with a sinister soundtrack claiming wombats kill with their backsides has been circulating for a few weeks. It’s the kind of assertion that sounds like a biological Mad Libs, so we spoke with Lisa Martin, a wildlife care supervisor from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in California to uncover the truth. Martin has spent close to 40 years looking after wombats–butts and all. 

“When I first started working with wombats, I could see a level of flatness to their rumps, but it always surprised me just how hard it is,” Martin tells Popular Science. “It’s like a plate. So it’s flat, very dense, and covered in fur. When you pat that cartilaginous plate, it almost sounds like you’re patting on a three-ringed binder. It’s not like wood hard, but it’s definitely solid.”

The idea that wombats can use their butts to kill is a bit of a myth that has not scientifically been documented. In the wild, dog-sized animals like dingoes and Tasmanian devils prey on the smaller and herbivorous wombats. Wombats live in elaborate dens and burrows, much like meerkats.

If a predator followed them into their den, they could move their hard butts in a way that probably would make it very uncomfortable for the predators, who may then back out. But as for actually using their butts to kill something intentionally?

“I never say never,” laughs Martin. “I can imagine, if the circumstances were just right, perhaps if there’s a rock sticking out of the side of the burrow that the wombat dug, and a dingo followed them into this burrow, and the wombat maneuvered that plate in such a way that caused the rock to go into the skull or make a cut, and somebody witnessed that, it might look like the wombat surely intended for that damage to happen to the predator.”

Biologists who have studied wombats in the wild have reported seeing dead foxes at the entrance to burrows. However, they also have fierce claws that could also prove formidable when provoked, so these predators were not necessarily killed by buns of steel. 

“It is possible, by their physiology and everything, but there is no evidence that that is actually happening,” University of Adelaide wombat expert Alyce Swinbourne told The Guardian. “There are a range of species that actually use the burrows, including the predators, so it might be housekeeping. When they get in there, they could remove the dead animal, and in the process, squash the skull while moving it out.”

Their bottoms are central to wombat flirting and eventual mating. According to Swinbourne, a female will bite a male wombat’s behind and run away so that he has to chase her and vice versa. However, it is a brutal process, with running and clawing and chunks of torn fur can be seen near dens after a large mating bout. 

While their butts aren’t necessarily killing tools, these smaller marsupials can still be pretty rough around the edges when provoked. 

“When I first started working with them, I would attribute them to a little tank because they’re solid,” says Martin. “They’re pretty docile, but if they get startled, part of their defense mechanism is to run for that burrow. And if you’re in the way, you’re going to get knocked over because they are such solid, sturdy things.”

The post Can wombats kill with their butts? We found the hard truth. appeared first on Popular Science.

Writing in Greater Greater Washington, Madeleine Bartin outlines the results of her research on how resources are allocated around Washington, D.C.’s transit stops, finding that some of the neighborhoods that experience the hottest temperatures thanks to the urban heat island effect are also least well-equipped with shelters and benches at bus stops.

According to Bartin’s research, “Metro stations with the lowest average percentages of 14-20% of stops having shelters were located entirely in Northeast and Southeast DC. The lines most covered were predominantly located in Northwest DC.”

People who aren’t affected by the design choices may not register them as exclusionary.

In D.C., the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) awards a franchise agreement to Clear Channel Outdoor to build and maintain bus shelters in exchange for advertising space. Because the company is allowed to consider “the advertising market potential” in their site selection, the company is incentivized to see the shelters as revenue boosters rather than as public amenities. 

Bartin calls this an issue of spatial justice — “a field of study that acknowledges the impact of urban design and access to public resources.” As Bartin explains, “features of cities that we often take for granted—like shade, heat, and bus stops—are not uniform, or innate, but shaped by human interaction.” The decisions made by policymakers and planners impact who has access to public resources.

• Shade
• Extreme Heat
• Bus Stops
• Bus Shelters
• Spatial Justice
• Urban Heat Island Effect