DAILY QUICK READ - JULY 28, 2016

Fireflies For the People

A community in Mexico has figured out how to save its old-growth forest by utilizing the power of fireflies.  This is how we save the world.

Thousands of them light up a magical spectacle at dusk in the old-growth forests on reserves such as the Piedra Canteada park, about 45 miles (75km) east of Mexico’s sprawling capital city.

Piedra Canteada in Tlaxcala state isn’t a government-run park, but a rural cooperative that has managed to emerge from poverty and dependence on logging with the help of the fireflies.

For years, economic forces, including low prices for farm produce, forced rural communities like Piedra Canteada to cut down trees and sell the logs. Then, in 1990, community leader Genaro Rueda Lopez got the idea that the forest could bring tourism revenue from campers.

Business was slow for years. Then in 2011, community members realized the millions of fireflies that appear between June and August could draw tourists from larger cities where few people have seen them in significant numbers. Indeed, around the world, deforestation and urban growth are threatening the more than 2,000 species of fireflies with extinction.

Climate Change – the Hoax Continues

Bill Nye in a few minutes tells truth regarding the incredible lies and conspiracies from the right.

First, our favorite science guy, Bill Nye, is back with a new video aimed at debunking climate change conspiracy theories. Vocativ combs through online conspiracy forums to see what "climate change truthers" are saying, then Nye takes down the wacky theories one by one. We won't get into every one as they've been repeatedly debunked before, but Nye takes on the truthers with his usual flair (and bow tie).

"It's not that the world didn't used to be warmer in the ancient dinosaur days," Nye said, "It's the speed at which the world is getting warmer ... that's so troublesome."

Nye also reminds viewers of the original #ExxonKnew conspiracy, saying, "The fossil fuel industry works very hard to maintain their status quo."

Trump Will Destroy the Planet

Thank God there are still people who want to save it.

There is no more immediate and existential a threat to the planet than the climate crisis. Glaciers are cracking. Deserts are expanding. And, god knows, the weather is speaking loudly for itself here this week. Still, the Republicans adopt a platform that is the climatic equivalent of inviting the leadership of Daesh to the White House Easter Egg Roll, as MotherJones reported.

One day, when we're all fighting for elbow room on a rapidly disintegrating cinder, we can discuss this further. However, instead of thinking about that, and instead of praying to Gaia to turn He, Trump altogether into a ferret, how's about we meet three people who make sense, not merely on addressing this impending catastrophe, but also on how to organize politically to do something about it? On Tuesday, a climate and environmental caucus met for the first time to map out strategies they can use both within and without the political process.

Origins of Human Speech

What can an ape teach us?

An ape at the Indianapolis Zoo is giving scientists insight into how human speech may have evolved across time. Scientists from Durham University in the United Kingdom discovered that orangutans might be able to control their voices after an eight-year-old orangutan named Rocky mimicked the pitch and tone made by researchers.

Rocky, now 11 years old, was studied from April to May in 2012 when researchers played a “do-as-I-do” game with the ape. Essentially, a researcher would make a random sound that varied in pitch and tone and Rocky would mimic the noise. The team then compared the more than sounds made by the ape with a database housing thousands of hours of clips of over 120 orangutans in the wild and captive.

By cross-referencing Rocky’s "mimic" vowel-like noises with the database, the researchers were able to verify that none of the "mimic" noises were found naturally within the orangutan population. Thus, the team was able to confirm that Rocky is capable of learning new sounds and controlling his voice instead of merely creating a "normal orangutan call with a personal twist."

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