Climate Change Denier’s About-Face
One of the major climate change skeptics, Richard A. Muller, has taken another step in reversing his position. Much of Muller’s work has been largely funded…
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Ringling Caves!
The elephants are packing their trunks. By any standard, today’s decision by the Ringling Circus to phase out its elephant acts represents a seismic shift in the use of…
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Collapse of Antarctic Ice Sheet Irreversible
One of the six major glaciers being eroded from below by warm water What does it mean when two major studies this week tell us that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is…
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2013 Game Changers
Two events share top prize as game changers for the year just ending: The Nonhuman Rights Project's lawsuits have started a whole new conversation about how we relate to other…
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Mother Carries Shot Pit Bull to Safety
It started out as the same hike that Andi Davis does every day to the top of one of the mountains near where she lives in Phoenix, Arizona. But this time, close to the top,…
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Liberators or Terrorists?
When 100 people, mostly women from various rescue groups, rescued 178 beagles from a research lab in Brazil last week, nobody called them terrorists. The five security officers…
The Right Music for Cats
Greyhound Shock Angers Australians
Holiday Gift for Elephant Music Lovers
The Yeti Bear
Pork Council: "Ask a Pig If She’s Happy"
Why is the National Pork Producers Council worried that new laws may give chickens a few inches more space? Because it may be the thin end…
Pastor Rick Warren Explains His Tweet
Rick Warren has clarified his comment from a few days ago, which was apparently taken out of context – including by us. He wasn’t talking about…
Brits Divided Over Experiment on Kittens
Is it OK to sew up the eyes of kittens, open up their brains, and then kill them? What about if it might lead scientists to…
Should We Be Alarmed by Greenland Ice Melt?
Answer: yes and no. Yes, Greenland is already melting much faster than in recent history. And yes, this will cause sea levels to rise two to…
You’d Never Guess What’s Under Here
Two men surveying the Antarctica’s Ferrigno Glacier, which is rapidly melting, have detected something so awesome they could scarcely believe it at first. But it’s there,…
Judge Rules For Elephants Against L.A. Zoo
“All is not well at the Elephants of Asia exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo,” wrote Judge John L. Segal in his judgment against the Los…
Best Simple Book on Climate Change
Pound for pound, I’d rate Global Weirdness, the new book from the folks at Climate Central, the best book I’ve come across for a simple, objective, science-based explanation of what climate change is and how it’s affecting the planet.
Cat Finds His Way Home from Six Miles Away
It took Wollie three days to find his way home. His mom, Barbara Oliphant, had rescued him as a stray last summer, but when her husband…
Pig Factories: ‘We’re Humane’
Old McDonald had a farm. But those kinds of farms are long gone. In today’s world, McDonalds has factory farms that it contracts with. And what…
Young Gorillas Dismantle a Trap
For the first time, gorillas have been seen freeing each other from traps set by hunters. People from the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda watched as…
Pastor Rick Warren Explains the Movie Massacre
There’s so much wrong with this Tweet by Pastor Rick Warren: Where do you start? Just to state the most obvious:
Reconciling Faith with Pessimism
Some noteworthy remarks by Chris Hedges on Bill Moyers weekly “Moyers and Company” show on PBS yesterday. They should resonate with any of us who are…
Michael Vick: ‘I’ve Helped More Animals than I’ve Hurt’
Michael Vick says he’s “made peace” with his past and that in his work as a motivational speaker for the Humane Society of the U.S., he’s…
Elephants: ‘California, Here We Come!’
They’ve been cleared for take-off. Barring last-minute holdups (and the Toronto Zoo says there may be some), Toka, Thika and Iringa, the three African elephants at…
Oldest Living Beings
Speaking of the awareness of our own mortality and the anxiety that this inspires (see my previous post), here are some of Earth’s longest living beings.…
Nature Bites Back
The crew of Star Trek used to regularly find themselves admiring the beauty of whatever planet they’d just landed on – only to get sprayed by…
Warden Who Condemned Lennox Gets Promoted
The Belfast dog warden who gave Lennox the big thumbs-down that led to his execution has been given a promotion.[readon] Sandie Lightfoot testified under oath that…
Weekly Recap July 14, 2012
From bird flu … to chimpanzees on the lam … to people who paint their pets … to nice people and not-so-nice people … to what it…
When Chimpanzees Escape
It rarely ends well for chimpanzees in captivity when they try to escape. And the fact is they always do want to escape … they’ll do…