If completed, the crowdfunded BEHA plane will pair two battery-powered electric turbines with solar panels, wind turbines, and a separate biodiesel engine, to fly through the sky with as small an environmental footprint as possible. BEHA stands for "Bio Electric Hybrid Airplane," and it joins the growing ranks of new aircraft designed to take advantage of multiple fuel sources. Call them "skybrids."
Thirty-five million to 47 million years ago, a carnivorous plant lived in what's now Russia. The dinosaurs were long gone, but various groups of mammals were still just evolving. The plant paid most of its attention, however, to smaller animals. Its leaves sported tentacley hairs that exuded a sticky fluid, designed to trap insects.
A decade ago, we set out to unravel deep ocean crime scenes we weren't even sure existed. The crime? Endangered Steller sea lions were rapidly disappearing in parts of Alaska. Their numbers dropped by 80 percent in three decades, yet only rarely did anyone see or sample dead sea lions. Live sea lions studied in the summer when they haul out to breed seemed healthy and had healthy pups.
We all know that good fences make good neighbors, but in one national park in India, fences just aren't good enough. New Scientist reports that a new radar network is being developed for Panna National Park, a tiger reserve in India.