Archive for July 2021
Nature’s fireworks: the Perseid meteor shower
Long before fireworks were invented, our ancient ancestors watched the night sky for entertainment and inspiration. They saw changing moon phases, imagined animal and human shapes in the stars, and created elaborate myths about the constellations. And they’d spot meteors streaking across the sky, and comets with bright tails. All these millennia later, the night…
Read MoreMore trees needed to shade New Jersey’s cities
Stand in the sun on a hot summer afternoon and wilt. Step into the shade and feel instant relief. Now imagine places without shade. Many New Jersey cities have too much pavement and concrete, and not enough trees with leafy canopies. Urban neighborhoods without shade trees can be up to 12 degrees hotter than nearby…
Read MoreSpeak up for the Essex-Hudson Greenway!
Essex and Hudson counties make up the most densely populated corner of the nation’s most densely populated state: a place with lots of people and pavement but precious little open space. But a proposal to turn nearly nine miles of abandoned railroad corridor into a 100-foot-wide linear park with a hiking and biking path, benches,…
Read MoreCo-existing with wily coyotes
Have you followed the recent coverage of coyote sightings in New Jersey? Have you seen a quick flash of a mysterious canine-like animal moving across the landscape, ducking into the trees or perhaps behind a building? If it was carrying any product marked ACME, or dropping anvils from hot air balloons, or carrying giant magnets,…
Read MoreHorseshoe crabs and red knots: perfect together!
They may be nature’s ultimate odd couple: the red knot, a sandpiper known for its extreme long-distance migration, and the horseshoe crab, a “living fossil” with a helmet-like shell and spiky tail. The red knot is utterly dependent on the horseshoe crab for its survival. Each spring for millennia, red knots have migrated from the…
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