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"North America’s grassland birds are deeply in trouble 50 years after adoption of the Endangered Species Act, with numbers plunging as habitat loss, land degradation and climate change threaten what remains of a once-vast ecosystem.

Over half the grassland bird population has been lost since 1970 — more than any other type of bird. Some species have declined 75% or more, and a quarter are in extreme peril.

And the 38% — 293,000 square miles (760,000 square kilometers) — of historic North American grasslands that remain are threatened by intensive farming and urbanization, and as trees once held at bay by periodic fires spread rapidly, consuming vital rangeland and grassland bird habitat."

apnews.com/article/grassland-b

Know her name: Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) made contributions to #astronomy that are still important to the field today.

And she’s just one in a long line of female astronomers who did not receive the credit they were due and whose work was used to justify prizes for male scientists instead.

#astronomy #womeninstem @histodons #womenshistory
theconversation.com/caroline-h

Just when I thought Canada couldn't get any more Canada: there's a hockey stick in this beaver dam.

Shimmering water intrigued scientists at a spot off the coast of California in 2018, where they made a staggering discovery: Far below the surface, an estimated 20,000 deep-sea octopuses had gathered, the largest congregation of the cephalopods ever found. Smithsonian Magazine explains why: flip.it/HkALvb
#Science #Animals #SeaLife #MarineLife #Octopus

Trump’s federal criminal trial for efforts to overturn the 2020 election has been scheduled by Judge Chutkan for March 4, 2024.

This is tremendously important for our democracy.

Untangling Avian Evolution: How Early Birds and Plants Bloomed Together 🦖

nature.com/articles/s41467-023

New study fills a paleobiology gap revealing a profound connection between the early diversification of birds and the dominance of angiosperms in the Early to Middle Cretaceous period. The diet of earliest birds, it turns out, was a major factor in establishing an arboreal herbivore niche mainly occupied by birds today. #Botany #BotanyAI

Dear corporate media: Now that Donald Trump is officially posting bail in connection with 13 felonies he is charged with in Georgia, Please ensure that all your articles and stories note Trump is "out on bail." As in “Donald Trump—who is OUT ON BAIL-is campaigning today in Iowa.”

Although wolves use varied vocalizations to express themselves, howls are certainly the most popular.

Just like us, each wolf has a unique voice so distinctive features of each individual’s howl allow wolves to identify each other.

If you listen carefully to Silas + Nikai, you'll notice that their howls are unique yet somehow come together to create the most beautiful music.

#Wolf #WolvesOfMastodon

youtu.be/Y34pkuUp4uw

This is a part of the line of remembrance, where the Berlin Wall ran, in the middle of the city. It was 3.40m high and flanked by numerous other protective structures. As a child I was used to the Wall, and since 1990 it slowly disappeared, piece by piece. And yet - sometimes I am simply flabbergasted that today I can stand here with one foot on each side, just like that. Still an incredible feeling of happiness.

#ThrowbackThursday #History #Berlin #BerlinWall #StreetPhotography

The road to success for Black female lawyers has not been easy, especially as prosecutors.

Of the roughly 2,400 elected prosecutors in the US in 2019, only 45 of them were Black women, less than 2%.

Since then, two Black women have won high profile posts: Fani Willis in Fulton County, Georgia and Letitia James in New York.

They've proven to be two of Donald Trump's nemeses -- and the targets of his attacks.
theconversation.com/black-fema
#BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #TrumpIndictments

“Smith chose to tell the story of an abstraction, crimes against democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. Willis is telling a concrete and detailed story of crimes against voters and election workers; Black voters in particular, female Black election workers in specific.… They are two very distinct acts of violence against elections. Smith reminds us what the country nearly lost, and Willis recalls what Black voters have almost never won.”

@Dahlialith
slate.com/news-and-politics/20

This type of militarization and brutalization of the border is the manifestation of a level of cruelty and disregard for the lives of fellow human beings that is simply disgusting, disturbing, and outrageous. No one who is ok with this gets to call themselves “decent” in any way.

twitter.com/laikenjordahl/stat

Butterflies can remember specific flower foraging routes popsci.com/environment/helicon
Studying enhanced cognitive abilities like spatial learning could help scientists better understand how ecology can shape evolution.

The rank corruption of Clarence Thomas continues to be exposed, one sleazy item at a time.

How are we learning about this? Not from law enforcement or others who have subpoena power (e.g. Congress), but by journalists.

Latest example, from the NY Times. nytimes.com/2023/08/05/us/clar

When the risk is known to be existential, you would think the precautionary principle would apply

For everyone who forgets that this was not just an unconstitutional attempt to stay in office, but an explicitly violent one

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So,e (so-far) unindicted co-conspirators discussed in #DOJ #TrumpIndictment:
Co-conspirator 1 = Rudy Giuliani
2 = John Eastman
3 = Sidney Powell
4 = Jeffrey Clark
5 = Kenneth Chesebro

Not named in the indictment, but identifiable because of public reporting on their activities, which matches facts in indictment. #LawFedi

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