The fusion of history, archaeology, and genetics is cracking an 800-year-old Nordic mystery. Researchers from Norway used ancient DNA to corroborate a story from the Sverris Saga, where a man’s body was thrown into a well. Genetic analysis reveals what the man might have looked like and where his ancestors came from. The findings are described in a study published October 25 in the Cell Press journal iScience and the methods used could help scientists identify other historical figures. 

“This is the first time that a person described in these historical texts has actually been found,” Michael D. Martin, a study co-author and genomicist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said in a statement. “There are a lot of these medieval and ancient remains all around Europe, and they’re increasingly being studied using genomic methods.”

[Related: Stone circles unearthed in Norway mark ancient children’s graves.]

The Old Norse Sverris Saga details the reign of King Sverre Sigurdsson and is an important source of knowledge about the region in the late 12th and early 13th Century CE. One of the passages describes a raid on Sverresborg Castle outside Trondheim in central Norway that occurred in 1197 CE. The writer mentions a dead man thrown into the well, but the reason why he was thrown into the well is much more sinister than just a run of the mill drowning. Historians suspect that the body was thrown in as a way to poison the local main water source.

In 1938, the bones believed to be that of the “Well-man” were found within the castle’s walls, but scientists at the time couldn’t do much beyond visual analysis. Today’s scientists have radiocarbon dating and advanced gene-sequencing technology that allowed them to craft a more solid picture of the Well-man’s identity. 

Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the remains are roughly 900 years old. Research from 2014 and 2016 also confirmed that the body belonged to a male who was between 30 and 40 years old when he died.

“The text is not absolutely correct—what we have seen is that the reality is much more complex than the text,” study co-author and Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage Research archaeologist Anna Petersén said in a statement.

“We can corroborate what actually happened in a more neutral way,” study co-author Martin Rene Ellegaard of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology added.

In this new study, the team used samples of a tooth from the Well-man’s skeleton to sequence his genome. The team was then able to determine that he most likely had blue eyes and blond or light-brown hair. His ancestors were likely from the southernmost Norwegian county of present-day Vest-Agder.

To analyze this very old genome, they used a large pool of reference data from the genomes of modern-day Norwegians and other Eureopeans through a collaboration with Agnar Helgason at deCODE Genetics in Iceland.

“Most of the work that we do is reliant on having reference data,” Ellegaard said. “So the more ancient genomes that we sequence and the more modern individuals that we sequence, the better the analysis will be in the future.”

[Related: Some modern-day Scandinavians lack the ancestral diversity of Vikings.]

According to the team, the discovery of the remains of the Well-man and their connection to this  passage in Sverris Saga gave them the opportunity to bring inferences based on ancient DNA into historical study. 

“While we cannot prove that the remains recovered from the well inside the ruins of Sverresborg castle are those of the individual mentioned in Sverris Saga, the circumstantial evidence is consistent with this conclusion,” the authors wrote in the study. 

Even with all of this data and better research methods, there are still limitations to this technology. Sampling the Well-man’s genome required removing the outer surface from his tooth, to keep it from being contaminated with any DNA from those who handled it during excavation. The tooth also had to be ground into a powder and the sample can’t be used for further tests. The team were not able to obtain any data on pathogens that the Well-man may have been carrying at his time of death.

“It was a compromise between removing surface contamination of the people who have touched the tooth and then removing some of the possible pathogens … there are lots of ethical considerations,” said Ellegaard. “We need to consider what kind of tests we’re doing now because it will limit what we can do in the future.”

The team would also like to test samples from other historical figures, including Saint Olaf–the patron saint of Norway–who is believed to be buried near Trondheim Cathedral.

“So I think that if eventually his remains are uncovered, there could be some effort to describe him physically and trace his ancestry using genetic sequencing,” said Martin. 

The post Tooth powder unlocks clues to an 800-year-old mystery of man thrown into well appeared first on Popular Science.

In an article for CBC, Nicole Mortillaro highlights research from cities around the world that shows that, despite popular misconceptions, bike lanes do not increase traffic congestion.

The article is in part a response to a contentious proposed Ontario, Canada law that would “would require municipalities to get provincial approval to install any bike lanes that would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.”

According to studies, dedicated bike lanes increase the number of people biking and reduce the number of cars on the street. “Bike Share Toronto statistics show that ridership on its network of shared bikes has increased dramatically since 2015, when 665,000 bike trips were made annually. In 2023, that shot up to 5.7 million trips.”

In New York City, the average time it takes cars to travel on a major thoroughfare decreased from 4.5 minutes to 3 minutes after bike lanes were installed. “Other case studies found either no impacts on traffic, or minimal delays — anywhere from a few seconds to just over a minute.”

The article highlights other studies from Canada and beyond, noting that bike lanes are also shown to increase safety for pedestrians by decreasing traffic speeds. And in many cases, they also bring additional revenue to local businesses.

• Bike Lanes
• Bike Infrastructure
• Complete Streets
• Road Safety
• Safe Streets

A report from civic engagement software company Granicus outlines how cities can increase their revenue from the short-term rental sector by tightening regulations and cracking down on unlicensed rental properties.

As Kaitlyn Levinson explains in Route Fifty, the report recommends that cities create more robust systems for monitoring and collecting taxes on these properties. “Increasing taxes on short-term rentals, said Jorge González-Hermoso, a research associate at the Urban Institute, could also help ensure that the cities get paid for short-term renters’ use of public services like roads and utilities.”

Other lodgings, such as hotels, generally pay much higher taxes than residential properties — which, in most states, include short-term rentals. In Colorado, hotels pay a 27.9 percent tax while residential properties are subject to a 6.765 percent tax. A failed bill that would have raised the tax on STRs could have generated as much as $293.3 million in revenue in 2026, according to a fiscal analysis.

As Levinson explains, STR revenue can also offset the negative impacts of the industry. In Nashville, STR tax revenue goes toward the city’s affordable housing fund, with over $15 million generated since 2015.

• Short-Term Rentals
• Airbnb
• Housing Costs
• Housing Supply
• Tax Revenue
• Lodging Tax

In an article for Multifamily Dive, Mary Salmonsen highlights 13 proposed laws on city and state ballots across the country this November that could pave the way for more multifamily housing in several cities.

The most prominent of these bills is California’s Proposition 33, which would eliminate the state’s limits on rent control in local jurisdictions and allow rent control to include buildings built after 1995, currently precluded by state law. “San Francisco has already passed a new rent control law designed to trigger if Prop 33 passes, according to the San Francisco Standard. Any localities with rent control in place when Costa-Hawkins passed in 1995 could not expand it to housing built after their existing limit — 1979, in San Francisco’s case.”

The article highlights five other local measures, four in California and one in New Jersey. Berkeley, California’s Measures BB and CC are two counteracting measures: BB would fund housing assistance and homelessness prevention, while CC could raise the city’s maximum rent increase from 7 percent to 7. 1percent and funnel existing revenue to rent payments for property owners. If voters pass both, the measure with more votes would take effect.

A proposed measure in San Anselmo, California would require property owners with three or more units to provide longer notices and relocation benefits to no-fault lease termination tenants.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, a proposed law would allow landlords to raise rent as much as they want on newly vacated apartments (compared to the current limit of 25 percent) as long as they contribute a one-time $2,500 payment to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

At the state level, California Proposition 5 “would amend the state constitution to lower the supermajority vote requirement from 66.67% to 55% for local ballot measures related to issuing bonds for affordable and public housing. This would have a ripple effect on future local ballot measures approving affordable housing funding.” In Rhode Island, Question 3 would authorize $120 million in bonds for housing acquisition and development.

• Multifamily Housing
• Housing Supply
• Housing Costs
• Affordable Housing
• Housing Crisis

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

When the Racetrac chain of convenience stores was deciding whether to install electric vehicle chargers, project lead Rushi Patel started with a blank Excel sheet and a lot of questions. Did the financials make sense? Where is the best to install them? What features should they have? The answers to questions like these could go a long way toward establishing an economic argument for building out America’s public EV charging infrastructure.

“We found our guests using new types of fuels, like electrons, and we wanted to be with them as part of that journey,” said Patel, the diversified energy manager at Racetrac’s parent company Metroplex Energy. But he was clear that “it’s important to have an offer that does make money.” 

Patel slowly started to populate his spreadsheet in 2021, filling cells with EV adoption rates, utility prices, construction costs and a range of other metrics. He also took the company’s executives on a two-hour tour of charging spots in Atlanta, where Racetrac is based. One was tucked behind a shopping plaza, the other was deep within the bowels of a mall garage. It was clear to them that Racetrac could do better.

Two years later, Racetrac installed its first Level 3 fast charger in Oxford, Alabama — complete with the company’s logo and a canopy to shade people from the sun as they pump electrons. It has since opened seven more in three states. So far, he said, “[the business model] is holding up pretty well.”

Those eight chargers are among the 61,000 that blanket the country, a figure that has more than doubled since 2022. The increase comes as mounting evidence shows EV charging stations can be a boon to businesses, and not only by selling electricity. 

A recent study in the journal Nature Communications looked at chargers in California and found that, pre-pandemic, businesses saw an average annual boost of $1,500 when at least one of the devices stood nearby. Another paper examined Tesla Supercharger installations nationally and saw they brought a 4 percent increase in visitors to a business. The effect was particularly pronounced if the chargers were within 500 feet, and if it was the first one in the area. This boon is due to the fact that it can take 30 minutes or more to fully charge an EV, giving drivers plenty of time to shop.

“The places that tend to get the biggest bump, is the place that aligns with how long it takes you to charge your car,” said Gordon Burtch, an author of the paper and a professor of information systems at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. “Sit-down restaurants aren’t benefiting as much as fast-food restaurants.”

A range of companies have seen the upside of installing chargers. Walmart is building its own network of chargers to add to the more than 1,300 chargers already at its stores. Kohl’s and Starbucks are adding more hardware. Subway plans to add “charging oasis parks,” complete with picnic tables, Wi-Fi, and playgrounds. Some places are even offering free charging to entice potential customers.

“Owning and operating a charger on its own can be really tough,” said Jim Burness, the founder of National Car Charging, which manages more than 11,000 charging points across the country. “If you add in the increased shopping basket, the economic case becomes pretty easy.”

Patel says Racetrac is indeed seeing a bump in sales while people stop to plug in. The quality of the experience seems to make a big difference, he added, which is why the company has invested in features like canopies.

“If you’re going to fill your regular vehicle up under a canopy, there should be no reason you can’t do the same [with an EV],” he said, noting that a well-lit facility that includes access to clean restrooms also goes a long way toward drawing patrons.

“If you dial in the offering and make the experience great, not only will they pay a premium, but they’ll come back,” said Karl Doenges, executive director of charging analytics at The Transportation Energy Institute. But both he and Patel noted that there are still challenges to overcome; most notably how to coordinate utility costs with customer pricing. 

Utilities often charge commercial accounts two fees: one for the amount of energy consumed and one fixed amount based on the peak demand for the month. Rates can also vary depending on the time of day. This can make determining how to price a charger difficult. 

Doenges says operators have been experimenting with time of use pricing, and increasingly, dynamic pricing based on demand, similar to Uber surcharges. According to Patel, some utilities are also developing models that better suit EV charging patterns, which is why Racetrac chose Alabama for its first charger. But, he said, “the hardest part even today has been the way electricity is priced.”

Chargers can also be very expensive to install, ranging from thousands of dollars for a Level 2 charger to hundreds of thousands for a much faster Level 3 device that can do the job in as little as 20 minutes. On that front, at least, there are significant federal incentives available to help. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law established the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which is currently rolling out across the country with a goal of creating 500,000 new stations by 2030. Racetrac received $619,575.87 to install four chargers at its store in Dublin, Georgia. 

While Patel wouldn’t elaborate on Racetrac’s expansion plans, he said more chargers are coming, and he’s confident that if the company builds them, enough customers will come to make it worth the expense. “We’ve done a ton of analysis,” he said. “We’ve gone deep.”

The post Public EV chargers are good for the planet. They’re also good for business. appeared first on Popular Science.

Chicago could lower speed limits on most city streets from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour if a proposal by Alderperson Daniel La Spata is passed by the full city council. According to an article by NBC Chicago, “City Council members cited statistics that pedestrians have a 90% chance of surviving being struck by a vehicle traveling 20 miles per hour, compared to a 60% chance if they’re struck by a vehicle traveling 30 miles per hour.”

According to the article, “Members of the City Council cited studies showing that reductions in speed limits in other cities, including New York and Seattle, helped to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities after they were passed.”

The effort is part of the city’s Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic deaths and follows other cities that have reduced speed limits, which limits the chance of serious injury or death during car-pedestrian collisions. In Seattle, where a similar law was passed, there was a 17 percent drop in the chance of an injury crash in the central city, while in New York City a reduced speed limit led to a 39 percent reduction in crashes.

• Chicago
• speed limits
• Pedestrian Safety
• Road Safety
• Traffic Safety
• Pedestrian Deaths
• Vision Zero

1. Start or answer a phone call.


2. Tap the record button (the waveform icon) in the top-left corner of the call screen.


3. An automated voice will notify all participants that recording has begun.


4. The recording will automatically save to the Notes app when the call ends or when you stop the recording.

This year has flown by so quickly that gifting season is only weeks away. You better believe it’s time to brainstorm gifting ideas and place some orders if you aren’t the procrastinating type.

Here’s a gift that anyone would love to see under the tree: A camera drone. Imagine their face as they unwrap the box, revealing years of aerial adventures, explorations, and photography to come. The Ninja Dragon Sky 8 drone is 50 percent off right now, making it just $99.99.

Your giftee doesn’t have to be Maverick from Top Gun to know how to fly this thing. A whole slew of features make the Ninja Dragon Sky 8 a beginner drone fit for children or Grandma:

• Advanced obstacle avoidance helps the pilot avoid hazards
• Intuitive remote control makes the gadget easy to navigate
• Optical flow positioning and altitude hold mode keep the drone flying steady

Let’s be honest: No matter how old or young your gift recipient may be, there’s nothing cooler than the idea of buzzing around the yard and snapping photos. The Ninja Dragon Sky 8 has a single HD camera and hand gesture controls, so your giftee might:

• Take a hands-free family photo
• Snap an aerial shot of the family farm
• Record a tour of the whole block

It’s the perfect drone for gifting, but we understand if you’d just get one for yourself. Order the Ninja Dragon Sky 8 for $99.99 (reg. $199.99) and save 50 percent.

Ninja Dragon Sky 8 Obstacle Avoidance Smart Drone With Optical Flow – $99.99

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

The post Meet the perfect holiday gift: A drone that’s half off! appeared first on Popular Science.

Dozens of Americans are still recovering from a dangerous bacteria found festering in one of McDonald’s most iconic burgers. An E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s’ Quarter Pounder has led to nearly 50 reported infections across 10 states and one death. The outbreak, which McDonald’s believes stems from a single, massive onion supplier, comes just months after contaminated Boars Head cold cuts resulted in the largest Listeria outbreak in more than a decade.

Food safety experts told Popular Science this uptick in deadly food safety blunders may stem from a chaotic mix of complicated global supply chains, regulatory sluggishness, and shifting appetites for bacteria-prone pre-prepared foods. 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the first illness linked to the contaminated Quarter Pounders was reported in September. Since then, the tainted burgers have led to at least 10 hospitalizations and one death across at least 10 states. There have been at least 49 E.coli cases linked to the burgers nationwide, though that figure could be larger since some people recover from infections on their own without contacting healthcare authorities. The ages of those reported cases range from 13 to 88 years old. 

Most of the illnesses were concentrated in two states: Colorado and Nebraska. McDonald’s massive scale can make pinpointing the origin of these infections difficult, so it’s possible the total number of cases could tick upwards in the days and weeks to come. For perspective, the Associated Press estimates the company has 14,000 stores spread across the country and serves up to 1 million quarter-pounders every two weeks in just the 12 impacted states. 

Though an investigation into the outbreak’s root cause is still ongoing, McDonald’s released a statement saying it believes the illnesses are tied to slivered onions used specifically for the quarter pounder. McDonald’s sources those slivered onions from a single provider, Taylor Farms, that serves three distribution centers. On Wednesday, Taylor Farms officially issued a recall of its raw onions products, making the onions theory all the more likely. The fast-food giant has temporarily pulled the burger from restaurants in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. Quarter Pounders also won’t be served in some stores in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Nevada. Yum Brands, which oversees Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC, also released a statement Wednesday saying it would stop selling fresh onions in certain locations “out of an abundance of caution.” 

“We are working in close partnership with our suppliers to replenish supply for the Quarter Pounder in the coming weeks (timing will vary by local market),” McDonald’s North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña said in a statement. “In the meantime, all other menu items, including other beef products (including the Cheeseburger, Hamburger, Big Mac, McDouble and the Double Cheeseburger) are unaffected and available.” 

E. coli, formally named Escherichia coli refers to a bacteria commonly found in the guts of people and animals. Most strains of the bacteria are harmless, but some, notably including Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, can spread through food and water and cause serious illness in humans. The bacteria is often spread to humans after consuming infected animal products or by ingesting produce grown using infected water. E. coli affects around 74,000 people in the US each year, leading to over 2,000 hospitalizations and an estimated 61 deaths. Historically, hamburgers and other ground meat items have been potent vectors for spreading the bacteria because one patty can consist of meat made from many different cows, each of which could have been contaminated.

A CDC investigation into the recent rise in E. coli cases revealed the bacteria found in infected people shared the same DNA despite the fact that its human hosts lived in separate states. The Quarter Pounder was the common thread. That information suggests the bacteria originated from one single source or supplier. In this case, both McDonald’s and regulators seem increasingly confident beef wasn’t responsible since the company cooks its burgers at temperatures high enough to kill the bacteria. That makes the slivered onions the main contender. But even if that’s the case, food safety experts like Consumer Federation of America Director of Food Policy Thomas Gremillion say that still leaves many unanswered questions. 

“If it’s the onions, how did they get contaminated with E. coli?” Gremillion wrote in an email to Popular Science. “Were they grown next to a feedlot or other cattle operation? What other retailers or restaurants have received these onions? How widespread is the recall?”

McDonald’s directed us toward this food safety blog post when reached for comment. 

“Food at McDonald’s might not be particularly nutritious or safe in terms of long-term consumption, but most of us take for granted that it will not cause acute foodborne illness,” Gremillion added. 

The McDonald’s E. Coli scare comes just months after contamination at Boars Head facilities led to the single largest Listeria outbreak since 2011. Those cases, first reported by the CDS in July, have resulted in 10 deaths and the hospitalization of at least 59 people across 19 states. Several of those people reportedly died after eating tainted Boars Head liverwurst products. Since then, the company has reportedly recalled 7.2 million pounds of product and shuttered a Jarratt, Virginia manufacturing plant responsible for the tainted meat. Boars Head now faces multiple wrongful death lawsuits. 

But the Listeria outbreaks aren’t limited to Boars Head. Just this month TreeHouse Foods, which makes store-name branded waffles for Walmart, Target, and other top retailers, issued a recall after testing at one of its facilities identified potential listeria contamination. BrucePac, a company that specializes in pre-cooked meats, was forced to recall 11.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat poultry products over listeria contamination concerns. Possible Listeria exposure in 2024 has resulted in recalls of spinach, peanuts, and even dog food. 

Experts speaking with Popular Science described a food safety apparatus in the US marred by complicated agency jurisdictions and regulatory gaps. Food safety is broadly split up between the USDA, which oversees meat and poultry, and the FDA which is responsible for vegetables and other foods. Northeastern University Professor and food safety advisor Darin Detwiler told Popular Science this dichotomy could “cause gaps in oversight,” especially in product categories like burgers which often mix both fresh produce and proteins. Detwiler went on to say the vast, sprawling supply chains that have come to dominate much of the modern food supply can create “blind spots” that result in contamination falling through the cracks. 

 “A single contaminated source can impact hundreds of locations, as seen in nationwide outbreaks,” Detwiler said. “Traceability is often lacking, making it difficult to pinpoint the origin of contamination quickly.” 

Food contamination is personal for Detwiler. The professor, who was featured in the Netflix documentary Poisoned, says his 16-month-old toddler died in 1996 after being exposed to E. coli contaminated meat from Jack in the Box. 

Regulatory agencies like the FDA are also notoriously underfunded and face pressure from food interest groups to police with a light hand. A 2022 Politico investigation alleged the department was diverting attention away from food in order to prioritize drugs and medicine. Stephen Ostroff, who previously served as the acting commissioner of the FDA, told Politico he believed the agency’s food program was on the back burner.” That report went on to detail how the agency had reportedly failed to set standards for agricultural water intended to keep manure and other pathogen sources out of water used to grow produce. In the meantime, multiple foodborne illnesses traced back to contaminated freshwater produce have occurred. Large food industry groups, meanwhile, regularly pressure the FDA and USDA to allow for more self-policing regarding food safety. 

In a statement, an FDA spokesperson told Popular Science the US food supply remains one of the safest in the world. 

“Our ultimate goal is for the industry to do their part to ensure that the foods they introduce into the market are not adulterated or misbranded,” the spokesperson said. “Recalls help get the food off of the market quickly when something goes wrong and the occurrence of recalls means that manufacturers, importers, and distributors are monitoring for issues and taking action when they detect a problem.”

But regulatory challenges might not tell the whole story when it comes to the recent spat of bacteria outbreaks. Americans are eating more and more pre-prepared, “ready-made meals” than before, a trend possibly accelerated by the pandemic-era lockdowns. Those ready-made meals can include frozen meat products that can spend weeks or months in refrigerators and freezers. Detwiler says those cool environments and long shelf lives could give Listeria more time to grow. Sanitation lapses at manufacturing plants or a failure to maintain strict temperature controls can increase the risk of outbreaks even further. 

“If there are breakdowns in cold chain management (the process of keeping food at the right temperature from production to consumption), Listeria can multiply in foods that should be kept cold,” Detwiler said. 

At the same time, Detwiler says advances in testing technologies like whole genome sequencing mean overseers may be getting better at detecting signs of listeria earlier, which in turn, results in more recalls. In other words, it’s possible that increased recalls may actually be, at least in part, a byproduct of improved bacteria detection. Gremillion agreed and said recalls when detected early, can be success stories. 

Gremillion said the recent deadly outbreaks at McDonald’s and Boars Head are grim reminders that even though food safety standards improve in some respects it’s important for consumers and regulators to keep their guards up. Lengthier, hotter summers, he notes, could also increase the risk of contamination in food facilities by bugs and pests. 

“There are always food-born illness outbreaks coming up,” Gremillion said. “They never really go away.” 

The post Why McDonald’s E. coli outbreak could be a sign of more to come appeared first on Popular Science.

• When used with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18.1 or iPadOS 18.1 or later, AirPods Pro 2 with firmware update 7B19 enable three new features—a Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, and Hearing Protection.


• The Apple Hearing Test feature provides scientifically-validated hearing test results from the comfort of home (intended for users 18 years or older).


• The Hearing Aid feature provides personalized, clinical-grade assistance that is automatically applied to sounds in your environment as well as music, videos, and calls (intended for users 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss)


• The Hearing Protection feature helps users minimize exposure to loud environmental noise across listening modes (available in the United States and Canada)

• Invitations include a beta app description and developers can now also choose to include screenshots and their app category.


• Developers can now set tester criteria you must meet in order to join a beta.


• You can share with developers why you decided not to join a beta through a new feedback option.

A $7.5-billion highway expansion project in the Pacific Northwest is in “deep denial,” writes Ryan Packer in The Urbanist, noting that the proposed widening of Interstate 5 and replacement of the Columbia Bridge between Washington and Oregon ignore the well-proven concept of induced demand.

As Packer explains, “After months of delay, the IBR team has finally released its draft environmental review, one of the biggest hurdles left to clear before it can start construction, still targeted for sometime in 2026.”

The project is the largest in Pacific Northwest history and will add two “auxiliary” lanes, rebuild seven interchanges, and extend light rail into Vancouver, Washington. “However, the shiny new document leaves out an essential consideration when it comes to projecting the future effects of I-5 expansion in this long-constrained corridor, an omission that would have been much less noticed in a decade ago but which sticks out like a sore thumb now.”

For Packer, the project is another example of archaic thinking that prioritizes cars and will ultimately create more traffic. “To present the IBR as a climate win, the project team is framing a 23% increase in total traffic as resulting in a net reduction in emissions largely because of a broader transition to electric vehicles that is wholly outside the project’s control. But they also cite a reduction in stop-and-go traffic as leading to future emissions reductions, another myth has has been fully refuted for years.”

• interstate 5
• Highway Expansion
• Highways
• Induced Demand

Invasive Burmese pythons are without question the bane of Florida’s ecosystems. Since their confirmed presence in the Everglades National Park in 2000, their destructive impact on native wildlife has spread throughout the state as populations continue to explode. It’s so bad that some scientists are urging people to consider adopting a diet that’s heavier on python meat, while Florida now officially hosts an annual Python Hunting Challenge to help cull the reptile’s numbers. But as experts continue their uphill battle against the serpents, it’s becoming clearer how Burmese pythons are so well-equipped to thrive in the Panhandle State—new research proves the snakes are capable of swallowing prey that are even bigger than mathematical models suggested possible.

Burmese pythons are born from nests containing between 50-100 eggs, and initially measure around two-feet-long. By the end of their first year, however, they routinely double in size. Most adults don’t exceed 16 ft in length, but hunters have documented a handful spanning almost 20 ft and weighing over 200 lbs each. Their diets involve swallowing whole bobcats, raccoons, foxes, and even alligators—this is made possible thanks to their lower jawbone that isn’t fused at the front, which allows them to stretch them basically as far as their soft, pliable skin can handle. This makes a Burmese python capable of consuming prey six-times-bigger than what other snake species of similar sizes can eat. But according to a study recently published in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians, these gaping maws can expand bigger than experts once believed.

“Watching an invasive apex predator swallow a full-sized deer in front of you is something that you will never forget,” Ian Bartoszek, a researcher at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and study co-author, said in a statement on October 24th.

Working alongside Bruce Jayne, a University of Cincinnati professor of biological sciences and study co-author, as well as Conservancy of Southwest Florida coworker Ian Easterling, Bartoszek and colleagues recently got hands on to measure a trio of captured snakes measuring 15-, 17-, and 19-feet-long. Although previously examined pythons have been documented with mouth gape diameters as wide as 8.7 in, the largest of the study’s pythons could extend their gape to 10.2-in-wide.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot—just 18-percent bigger,” Jayne said on Thursday.

But this means a snake’s overall mouth size expands in conjunction with the larger diameter, says researchers, who add this means a 10.2-in gape increases its total area by 40-percent. In the largest pythons, this translated to a circumference equal to a pair of 32-inch-waist jeans. Given that the team documented one snake devouring a 77-lbs deer about two-thirds its total mass, these potential prey revisions both revise existing impact estimates, as well as help explain how Burmese pythons are inflicting so much ecological damage in Florida.

[Related: Scientists propose eating more python.]

“The impact the Burmese python is having on native wildlife cannot be denied. This is a wildlife issue of our time for the Greater Everglades ecosystem,” stressed Bartoszek.

Jayne and their team also realized additional implications after studying and extrapolating the scalability ratio between their mouth gapes and cranial structures.

“It’s almost a certainty that we have yet to capture the biggest Burmese python in Florida,” said Jayne. “So, it seems very plausible that a record-breaking python with a gape of (11.8 in) could eat a 120-pound deer.”

According to Thursday’s announcement, Bartoszek’s team have so far removed 770 pythons that measure over 6.5 ft-long. Researchers said that if each snake ate a single baby deer—which they are perfectly capable of doing—then that would add up to about 13,000 pounds of prey removed from their natural ecosystem. And that’s just a single meal. 

Since Burmese python populations are still expanding across Florida, Jayne warns this could just be the “tip of the iceberg.” Without effective mitigation plans, the team warns there is a chance the snakes—with even larger mouths than thought—could eventually slither into wider portions of the Southeastern US.

The post Burmese pythons stretch their mouths even wider than we thought possible appeared first on Popular Science.

• iPadOS 18.1


• macOS Sequoia 15.1


• watchOS 11.1


• tvOS 18.1


• HomePod Software 18.1


• visionOS 2.1

Matthew Gonser, recently appointed as Los Angeles County’s Climate Resilience Officer, brings experience from a similar role in Honolulu and is now tasked with defining the Climate Resilience Initiative approved by the Board of Supervisors. Working within the Chief Sustainability Office, he will focus on addressing critical threats such as extreme heat, wildfires, and flooding, as outlined in the County's Climate Vulnerability Assessment. Gonser emphasizes the importance of long-term commitment and the need to reconsider past decisions to build a resilient future for a region of such local and national significance, viewing this as a leadership opportunity for Los Angeles.

To avoid a "doom and gloom" mentality about climate change, Gonser advocates for community engagement and action, stressing that resilience is about improving everyday quality of life through clean air, reliable water, and connected, affordable communities. While individual efforts like expanding transit choices and conserving resources are essential, he points out that systemic and institutional changes are needed to truly address the scale of the climate crisis, underscoring that climate resilience is a shared responsibility beyond personal choices. In his free time, he looks forward to exploring L.A. by biking, riding transit, and discovering its diverse plant and animal life.

• Los Angeles
• Los Angeles County
• Climate Resilience
• Climate Change

Mac () your calendars! We have an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning. Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/YnoCYkZq6c