thebeakerblog: nevver: Winners, Royal Society Some winners...

IMAGE CREDIT: "GOING WITH THE FLOW: SCHOOLING TO AVOID A PREDATOR," CLAUDIA POGOREUTZ, GERMANY. CATEGORY WINNER: BEHAVIOUR. // ROYAL SOCIETY PUBLISHING




"Tadpoles overhead," Bert Willaert, Belgium Overall winner Category winner: Ecology and Environmental Science Royal Society Publishing


"A baboon gets lost in his thoughts,"Davide Gaglio, South Africa Special commendation Royal Society Publishing


"Sand has scales," Fabio Pupin, Italy Runner up: Evolutionary Biology Royal Society Publishing


"Fish louse,"Steve Gschmeissner, UK Special commendation Royal Society Publishing

thebeakerblog:

nevver:

Winners, Royal Society

Some winners from the first-ever photography contest held by the Royal Society. Overall winner is the shot filled with tadpoles that’s pictured above, but I think my favorite is the pensive gorilla with the little baby. -Patrick

Some great photography.

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k009: Do you like eating woopers? Thing that always puzzled me...

k009:

Do you like eating woopers?

Thing that always puzzled me about the Pokémon universe: what is their food?

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npr: skunkbear: On April 26, 1986, a power surge caused an...

npr:

skunkbear:

On April 26, 1986, a power surge caused an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, Ukraine. A large quantity of radioactive material was released.

On May 2, 1986, the Soviet government established a “Zone of Alienation” or “Exclusion Zone” around Chernobyl – a thousand square miles of “radioactive wasteland.” All humans were evacuated. The town of Pripyat was completely abandoned.

But the animals didn’t leave. And a new study, published this month in Current Biology, suggests they are doing fine. “None of our three hypotheses postulating radiation damage to large mammal populations at Chernobyl were supported by the empirical evidence,” says Jim Beasley, one of the researchers.

In fact, some of the populations have grown. These photos (mostly taken by Valeriy Yurko) come from the Belarusian side of the Exclusion Zone, and area called the Polessye State Radioecological Reserve. Kingfisher, elk, boar, baby spotted eagles, wild ponies, moose, rabbits, and wolves all make their home in the park. In some ways, human presence is worse for wildlife than a nuclear disaster.

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Image credits:

• 1986 Chernobyl - ZUFAROV/AFP/Getty Images
  
• Wildlife photos - Valeriy Yurko/Polessye State Radioecological Reserve
  
• Ponies in winter - SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
  

An interesting look at how wildlife has returned to a place humans have abandoned. -Emily

This is really cool. When humans go extinct, the other animals will take over and thrive.

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