In order to use remote locations to record and assess the behaviour of wildlife and environmental conditions, the GAIA Initiative developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that reliably and automatically classifies behaviours of white-backed vultures using animal tag data. As scavengers, vultures always look for the next carcass. With the help of tagged animals and a second AI algorithm, the scientists can now automatically locate carcasses across vast landscapes. The algorithms described in a recently published article in the “Journal of Applied Ecology” are therefore key components of an early warning system that can be used to quickly and reliably recognise critical changes or incidents in the environment such as droughts, disease outbreaks or the illegal killing of wildlife.

Public recall of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number has grown slowly since the three-digit phone number was introduced in July 2022. Just 15% of U.S. adults are familiar with it, as of September 2024, according to Annenberg Public Policy Center survey data.

It turns out gaming is good for you! New research from University of Houston indicates massive multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming and their skills in the workplace are enriched by those seemingly endless hours previously thought of as frittering away time. 

 

The next time you see an interesting bug, take a photo on your smartphone, and post it online. You just might catch an invasive species new to your area. That's the call to action a group of entomologists are issuing to the public in a new article published this month in Environmental Entomology. Platforms like iNaturalist, Observation.org, and others allow users to post images of animals and plants with no prior knowledge of what they're seeing, and such "passive surveillance" is playing an increasingly common role in early detection of invasive species.

The MIT Press releases report on the future of open access publishing and policy