British Vogue: FarmTok: The Wholesome Social Media Trend I Can’t Get Enough Of. “While social media can often feel oppressive, a place laden with perfect-looking people trying to sell us things, wholesome nature accounts are a joyful antidote to all of that. I’ve also found that it’s a great reminder that there is something beyond all of the noise, and it’s there for all of us at all times.”
Rolling Stone: ‘Fat Bear Week’ Hit By Voter-Fraud Attempt. “As far as the internet goes, Fat Bear Week is one of the most wholesome, innocent traditions on offer. It should be a trusted and transparent process, without nefarious manipulation. Which is why it came as such a blow to learn that during Sunday’s semifinal round between roly-poly bear 435 (nicknamed Holly) and airplane-sized bear 747, someone had attempted to game the results. Katmai National Park announced the attempted election fraud on Twitter.”
Pix 11: New NYC Parks tool helps you find fall foliage. “NYC Parks has created the #FallForNYC Fall Foliage Tracker, a website that tracks popular trees’ colors…. From Maple, to Sweetgum, to Ginkgo trees, the tracker is going to be able to tell you all about the different kinds of species of trees you’ll find in the city and when they’re expected to be at their peak.”
Rice University: See nature like (and with) a biologist in new online courses. “Solomon’s Introduction to Biology is the latest offering from Rice’s Wiess School of Natural Sciences through Rice Online and Coursera. The three-course series allows learners to see nature the way a biologist does, with virtual field trips to help understand and appreciate the incredible diversity of life on Earth.” The class is free to audit but if you want a certificate you’ll have to pay a fee.
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: South Carolina Wildlife magazine goes digital!. “South Carolina Wildlife magazine, in partnership with the South Carolina State Library, is proud to announce that many of its almost seventy years’ worth of magazines are available to the public in digital form at no cost.”
Newswise: New Course Helps Awaken Curiosity About Nature. “Adults who want to connect kids with nature now have some expert guidance, thanks to a new online course from Bird Academy, the e-learning arm of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. ‘Let’s Go Outside: How to Connect Kids with Birds and Nature,’ contains six lessons with dozens of field-tested activities to reduce screen time for kids and boost their curiosity about the natural world.”
PsyPost: Colorful urban environments promote wellbeing, even if they are just in virtual reality. “A new study in Frontiers in Virtual Reality tested the effects of vegetation and colorful patterns in an urban environment. Employing virtual reality, the study found that green vegetation caused volunteers to walk more slowly, while also increasing their heartrate, indicating a pleasurable experience. Meanwhile, colorful patterns increased alertness, fascination and curiosity.”
MakeUseOf: 9 Sites That Bring the Natural World to Your Computer or Phone. “We’ve rounded up the best websites that bring the natural world to your computer, tablet, or phone. We’ve got photos, documentaries, live cameras, and even GIFs of animals and natural wonders. These free sites aren’t a true replacement for experiencing nature first-hand, but they can help a bit.”
MakeUseOf: 5 Apps for Spending Time Outside and Connecting With Nature. “If you want to spend more time in nature but need a little nudge to get out there, then look to your smartphone or tablet for help. Whether you want to spend more time hiking and camping or simply take a lap around the block occasionally, this collection of apps can help you make the most of your time in nature.” I had no idea this category of app existed.
Advanced Television: BBC iPlayer adds archive Attenborough shows. “A number of classic Sir David Attenborough documentaries have returned to BBC iPlayer from the archive. These include Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives, Attenborough’s series about fossils and palaeontology, which has not been shown on the BBC since 1989, as well as seminal 1990 series The Trials Of Life.”
The Guardian: Five ways AI is saving wildlife – from counting chimps to locating whales. “AI is helping to protect species as diverse as humpback whales, koalas and snow leopards, supporting the work of scientists, researchers and rangers in vital tasks, from anti-poaching patrols to monitoring species. With machine learning (ML) computer systems that use algorithms and models to learn, understand and adapt, AI is often able to do the job of hundreds of people, getting faster, cheaper and more effective results. Here are five AI projects contributing to our understanding of biodiversity and species.”
Scienmag: Global database of plants reveals human activity biggest driver of homogenization of plant communities. “In a study published December 6 in Nature Communications researchers have compiled a dataset of over 200,000 plant species worldwide to demonstrate the extent to which species extinctions and non-native invasive plants reorganize plant communities in the Anthropocene, the current geological age dominated by human activity.”
Arizona Secretary of State: Float along the early days of Lake Powell on the Arizona Memory Project. “A new partnership between the State of Arizona Research Library and the Glen Canyon Conservancy- John Wesley Powell Museum has resulted in the Stan Jones’ Glen Canyon Log Books collection. From 1966 to 1986, as Lake Powell filled behind the newly completed Glen Canyon Dam, Stan Jones explored the changing shorelines in his motorboat, writing down his notes and observations as the waters rose. Though the collection only contains two journals, their handwritten findings fill nearly 400 pages of material that Jones would later use in his books about Lake Powell.”
Newswise: Lockdown wellbeing: children who spent more time in nature fared best. “A study has found that children who increased their connection to nature during the first COVID-19 lockdown were likely to have lower levels of behavioural and emotional problems, compared to those whose connection to nature stayed the same or decreased – regardless of their socio-economic status. The study, by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Sussex, also found that children from affluent families tended to have increased their connection to nature during the pandemic more than their less affluent peers.”
ScienceNordic: What our online lives can tell us about how much we value nature. “For the past eight years, several research groups, including ours, have spent a lot of time understanding whether we can eavesdrop on social media posts to figure out where and when people interact with nature. It turns out that we can. We tend to take photos and describe the part of our nature experiences that mattered. So suddenly our online lives is opening the possibility to figure out, at a global scale, where people go to experience nature and what it is they are actually enjoying when doing so.”
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