Last year, Panama expanded the Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area from 17,223 to 67,908 square kilometers (6,650 to 26,219 square miles). On April 27th, an international scientific expedition made up of researchers ...
Ecology
Apr 26, 2022
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23
Sleeping in a car may be a necessity for scientists conducting fieldwork. In 2020, a team of young researchers spent two nights sleeping in their car in the mountains of western Panama. The second time it was not intentional: ...
Ecology
Mar 25, 2022
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600
The mysteries of underwater life have long been a source of inspiration for writers, filmmakers, and marine biologists. But scientists interested in understanding the biological diversity of the oceans are often limited by ...
Ecology
Mar 4, 2022
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538
Between 2010 and 2011, two research expeditions sponsored by the Spanish government exploring the biodiversity of benthic organisms—those living on the ocean floor—on Central America's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, came ...
Ecology
Jan 24, 2022
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31
One afternoon, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Panama, a bored teenager with a slingshot and a clay ball accidentally shot entry and exit holes in a Cecropia tree trunk. These are "ant-plant" trees, which ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 3, 2022
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2194
New research, published in Scientific Reports by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) postdoctoral fellow Karina Chavarria and colleagues, shows that bacterial communities in streams adjacent to young secondary ...
Environment
Nov 5, 2021
2
905
The world's largest fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), is a plankton-loving giant that can be found alone or in groups in all tropical oceans. However, despite being a highly migratory species, little is known about ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2021
0
63
Lianas are the bridges of the tropical forest. These long, woody vines contribute to the high diversity of tropical plants and, by linking forest trees together, they also help animals move about the canopy. However, their ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2021
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34
Nepalese craftsman, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, holds the record as the world's shortest adult, at 54.6 cm (1 ft 9 ½ inches). The tallest human is Sultan Kösen, a Turkish farmer, almost five times taller at 2.52 meters (8 feet ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 14, 2021
0
556
The next time you see an online offer or go to the grocery store, notice whether there are two choices or three. A common marketing trick is to present three choices: The third choice is designed to shift your attention toward ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 9, 2021
0
825
