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When marine biologist Eleanor Caves of the University of Exeter thinks back to her first scuba dives, one of the first things she recalls noticing is that
Hawaii Magazine What they mean and what they tell us about a place's history and culture. Jan 25, 2017 What’s in an outdoor name? Many people know the story of how Diamond Head got its English-language name—19th-century British sailors initially mistook calcite crystals on its slopes for the precious stone. The Oahu volcanic crater’s original name, however, was Leahi, bestowed by Hawaiians who thought the crater’s shape resembled the dorsal fin of a tuna. (Diamond Head also claims the Hawaiian name Kaimanahila, or “diamond hill.”) Knowing the meaning of place names in Hawaii, wher...
Photo credit: Amazon/NBBJ Amazon unveiled its plans for its newest headquarters in Arlington—a sustainable, greenery-infused campus called PenPlace. Designed by the architecture firm NBBJ, the site will include a tower inspired by the natural world, an amphitheater with open green space, and a large community gathering area. The urban tower will feature two walkable paths of terrain on the outside of the building, an artist-in-residence program, and landscaped gardens, according to the company’s press release. It’s the sort of place destined to become a landmark, putting Amazon’s new...
Current protected areas not enough to save parrots from extinction: Study by Liz Kimbrough on 29 January 2021 Nearly one-third of parrot species are threatened with extinction, and a new study concludes that current protected areas are not sufficient to protect parrot diversity, overlapping with only 10% of the geographic range of all parrot species. Agriculture is the main threat to parrots and is especially relevant in the Neotropics, where parrot species richness is highest. The northeastern Andes and southeastern Australia are highlighted as two important hotspots for parrot conservation...
Sea Anemones Despite an evolutionary gap of 700 million years, a new study that was undertaken at the University of Haifa and published in the prestigious journal Nature Ecology and Evolution found that the GABA neurotransmitter, which plays a central role in brain development and function in mammals, fulfills similar roles in sea anemones. âIn the study, we not only discovered that a receptor from the GABABR family controls the metamorphosis process in the sea anemone, but also that the molecular path is similar to that found in humans, and in both cases, it mediates nervous system func...