Sandhill cranes can be spotted in many states, but in the 1930s their populations had crashed to a few dozen breeding pairs in the eastern U.S. Rsocol/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
The surprising recovery of once-rare bird
Tom Langen, Clarkson University When I started bird-watching as a teenager, a few years after the first Earth Day in 1970, several species that once thrived in my region were nowhere to be found. Some, like the passenger pigeon, were extinct. Others had retreated to more remote, wild areas of North America. In many cases, humans had destroyed their habitat by cutting down forests, draining wetlands and converting grasslands to agriculture. Pesticides such as DDT, air and water pollution, and the shooting of birds added to the drop in numbers. Birds are still declining across the continent. A recent study of 529 species found their numbers fell nearly 30% from 1970 to 2017. In 2025, nearly one-third of all North American bird species are declining; 112 bird species have lost more than half their population in the past 50 years. Yet, half a century after I started birding, I am starting to see a few long-missing species reappear as I ride my bike from my home through the village and surrounding farmland in rural New York.A pileated woodpecker foraging in a suburban neighborhood. This bird will excavate holes in trees, telephone poles and even wooden house siding to extract carpenter ants and beetle larvae or to create a nest cavity.Christopher Langen What has brought these species back while others are disappearing? In some cases, like the bald eagle, state wildlife officials have reintroduced the birds. But others have returned on their own as habitat protection and restoration, the elimination of certain pesticides, and a shift away from shooting raptors and other large birds made the region less threatening for them. As a wildlife biologist, I believe their return is a testament to conservation and the positive effect of reversing harms to the natural environment. Here are three examples.
Merlin: Pesticides’ collateral damage
The merlin is a falcon, a little smaller than a pigeon, that eats other birds. Until the 1970s, merlins primarily bred in the vast coniferous forests of the far north. But in the early 1970s, they began nesting in Saskatoon, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Twenty years later, the city had 30 nests. Soon, merlins were breeding in towns across Canada’s prairie provinces, then spreading east into the cities and towns of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.Merlins are falcons once rarely found outside remote boreal forests. They are now a familiar bird in many towns in Canada and the northeastern U.S. This one was spotted in Elmira, Ontario, Canada.David St. Louis/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY In Ontario, merlin populations have increased 3.5% per year over the past half-century, an explosive rate of increase. Where I live in the Saint Lawrence Valley of New York, nearly every village has a pair nesting in an old crow nest at the top of a tall Norway spruce tree today. The loud ki-ki-kee of a territorial pair becomes a familiar sound when they’re in the area. Why did merlin populations grow and spread so rapidly?A merlin that was injured in a window strike − the left eye is swollen shut. The author delivered it to a licensed rehabilitator, who cared for it until it could be released. Window strikes are a frequent cause of injury to these falcons.Tom Langen Exposure to the pesticide DDT in the 1960s weakened the shells of eggs laid by merlins and other raptors, and fewer of their chicks survived. Their numbers plummeted as a result. When the U.S. and Canada began restricting DDT in the early 1970s – and other pesticides – it was possible for merlins to successfully breed once again in areas with extensive agriculture. The indiscriminate shooting of birds of prey like the merlin has also declined. In the late 1800s, with farmers upset about losing poultry to raptors, Pennsylvania offered 50-cent bounties for the heads of merlins and other hawks and owls, and paid $90,000 over two years. People gathered at migratory passages, such as Hawk Mountain, to shoot birds of prey. Ending bounty programs and enforcing laws prohibiting shooting helped stop this. More importantly, people became aware of the ecological value and beauty of raptors and turned against killing them. Today, Hawk Mountain is a site for bird-watching rather than bird-shooting. Merlins may have also gotten some help from a large increase in urban-breeding crows. Merlins do not build their own nests but instead move into old crow nests. And it appears that merlins have adapted to the presence of humans, as well.
Pileated woodpecker: The need for big trees
Another bird that has dramatically increased in population and range is the pileated woodpecker. These black-and-white woodpeckers, recognizable for their bright red crest, are large – about the size of a crow. The two other large woodpecker species in North America – the ivory-billed and imperial woodpeckers – are likely extinct today. In the early 20th century the pileated woodpecker appeared to be on the same trajectory, as forest clearing took away their habitat. These woodpeckers rely on large dead or dying trees where they can excavate nesting cavities and feed on carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae.Pileated woodpeckers appeared to be at risk of extinction as their habitat disappeared in the early 20th century, but they have since rebounded.Gary Leavens/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA The regrowth of forest in eastern North America boosted their population – as did protection from shooting. They now forage in large trees in suburban yards, visit bird feeders, nest in parks with substantial tree cover, and are not shy around people. Their return is good for other species, too. The pileated woodpecker is a keystone species: Several birds and mammals benefit from the large tree cavities that the woodpeckers excavate.
Sandhill crane: A Clean Water Act success story
It’s not every day that you see a 4-foot-tall (1.2-meter) bird in rural New York, but it’s happening more often. Sandhill cranes were once almost extinct in the eastern U.S. Today, they’re making a comeback. These large waterbirds disappeared across much of their breeding range in the early 20th century as wetlands were drained for agriculture. They were also shot to prevent crop damage and heavily hunted for meat and were referred to as “ribeye of the sky.” By the 1930s, there were only about three dozen pairs in the eastern half of the U.S., mainly in remote marshes of northern Wisconsin. Laws such as the Clean Water Act, and programs that protect and restore wetlands and grasslands, such as the USDA Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, have played an important part in this species’ recovery.A pair of sandhill cranes make themselves at home on a Florida golf course. These large birds turn up in towns and fields in many states today.Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Hunting regulations and migratory bird treaties have also been key. Probably because of reduced shooting, cranes now tolerate the presence of people. They’re spotted foraging on golf courses and even breeding in suburban wetlands near Chicago. Today, over 90,000 sandhill cranes exist in the U.S., and they can be found breeding across the Great Lakes states, New England and eastern Canada. They aren’t beloved everywhere, however – in some areas, the cranes cause crop damage in cornfields.
Lessons for the recovery of other species
Other bird species that are now breeding in my area, but weren’t in 1970, include the Canada goose, turkey, trumpeter swan, great egret, bald eagle, osprey, peregrine falcon and raven. All have benefited from habitat protection and restoration, less shooting of birds and, in the case of the raptors, bans of certain pesticides such as DDT. While other bird species are declining, these recoveries show that when habitat is restored and protected, when people remove harmful substances from the environment and address harms caused by human infrastructure such as lights at night and reflective windows, some species that are currently rare and found only in remote places may return to the places we live. Tom Langen, Professor of Biology, Clarkson University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A severe winter storm that brought crippling freezing rain, sleet and snow to a large part of the U.S. in late January 2026 left a mess in states from New Mexico to New England. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power across the South as ice pulled down tree branches and power lines, more than a foot of snow fell in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, and many states faced bitter cold that was expected to linger for days.
The sudden blast may have come as a shock to many Americans after a mostly mild start to winter, but that warmth may have partly contributed to the ferocity of the storm.
As atmospheric and climate scientists, we conduct research that aims to improve understanding of extreme weather, including what makes it more or less likely to occur and how climate change might or might not play a role.
To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex.On the morning of Jan. 26, 2026, the freezing line, shown in white, reached far into Texas. The light band with arrows indicates the jet stream, and the dark band indicates the stratospheric polar vortex. The jet stream is shown at about 3.5 miles above the surface, a typical height for tracking storm systems. The polar vortex is approximately 20 miles above the surface. Mathew Barlow, CC BY
What creates a severe winter storm like this?
Multiple weather factors have to come together to produce such a large and severe storm.
Winter storms typically develop where there are sharp temperature contrasts near the surface and a southward dip in the jet stream, the narrow band of fast-moving air that steers weather systems. If there is a substantial source of moisture, the storms can produce heavy rain or snow.
In late January, a strong Arctic air mass from the north was creating the temperature contrast with warmer air from the south. Multiple disturbances within the jet stream were acting together to create favorable conditions for precipitation, and the storm system was able to pull moisture from the very warm Gulf of Mexico.The National Weather Service issued severe storm warnings (pink) on Jan. 24, 2026, for a large swath of the U.S. that could see sleet and heavy snow over the following days, along with ice storm warnings (dark purple) in several states and extreme cold warnings (dark blue). National Weather Service
Where does the polar vortex come in?
The fastest winds of the jet stream occur just below the top of the troposphere, which is the lowest level of the atmosphere and ends about seven miles above Earth’s surface. Weather systems are capped at the top of the troposphere, because the atmosphere above it becomes very stable.
The stratosphere is the next layer up, from about seven miles to about 30 miles. While the stratosphere extends high above weather systems, it can still interact with them through atmospheric waves that move up and down in the atmosphere. These waves are similar to the waves in the jet stream that cause it to dip southward, but they move vertically instead of horizontally.A chart shows how temperatures in the lower layers of the atmosphere change between the troposphere and stratosphere. Miles are on the right, kilometers on the left. NOAA
You’ve probably heard the term “polar vortex” used when an area of cold Arctic air moves far enough southward to influence the United States. That term describes air circulating around the pole, but it can refer to two different circulations, one in the troposphere and one in the stratosphere.
The Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex is a belt of fast-moving air circulating around the North Pole. It is like a second jet stream, high above the one you may be familiar with from weather graphics, and usually less wavy and closer to the pole.
Sometimes the stratospheric polar vortex can stretch southward over the United States. When that happens, it creates ideal conditions for the up-and-down movement of waves that connect the stratosphere with severe winter weather at the surface.
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A stretched stratospheric polar vortex reflects upward waves back down, left, which affects the jet stream and surface weather, right. Mathew Barlow and Judah Cohen, CC BY
The forecast for the January storm showed a close overlap between the southward stretch of the stratospheric polar vortex and the jet stream over the U.S., indicating perfect conditions for cold and snow.
This is what was happening in late January 2026 in the central and eastern U.S.
If the climate is warming, why are we still getting severe winter storms?
Earth is unequivocally warming as human activities release greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere, and snow amounts are decreasing overall. But that does not mean severe winter weather will never happen again.
One factor may be increasing disruptions to the stratospheric polar vortex, which appear to be linked to the rapid warming of the Arctic with climate change.The polar vortex is a strong band of winds in the stratosphere, normally ringing the North Pole. When it weakens, it can split. The polar jet stream can mirror this upheaval, becoming weaker or wavy. At the surface, cold air is pushed southward in some locations. NOAA
Additionally, a warmer ocean leads to more evaporation, and because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, that means more moisture is available for storms. The process of moisture condensing into rain or snow produces energy for storms as well. However, warming can also reduce the strength of storms by reducing temperature contrasts.
A warmer environment also increases the likelihood that precipitation that would have fallen as snow in previous winters may now be more likely to fall as sleet and freezing rain.
There are still many questions
Scientists are constantly improving the ability to predict and respond to these severe weather events, but there are many questions still to answer.
Much of the data and research in the field relies on a foundation of work by federal employees, including government labs like the National Center for Atmospheric Research, known as NCAR, which has been targeted by the Trump administration for funding cuts. These scientists help develop the crucial models, measuring instruments and data that scientists and forecasters everywhere depend on.
This article, originally published Jan. 24, 2026, has been updated with details from the weekend storm.
The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/
What a bear attack in a remote valley in Nepal tells us about the problem of aging rural communities
A 71-year-old in Nepal’s Nubri valley survives repeated bear attacks as youth outmigration and rapid population aging leave fewer people to protect crops and homes—pushing bears closer to villages and raising urgent questions about safety, conservation rules, and rural resilience.
Dorje Dundul recently had his foot gnawed by a brown bear – a member of the species Ursus thibetanus, to be precise.
It wasn’t his first such encounter. Recounting the first of three such violent experiences over the past five years, Dorje told our research team: “My wife came home one evening and reported that a bear had eaten a lot of corn from the maize field behind our house. So, we decided to shoo it away. While my wife was setting up camp, I went to see how much the bear had eaten. The bear was just sitting there; it attacked me.”
Dorje dropped to the ground, but the bear ripped open his shirt and tore at his shoulder. “I started shouting and the bear ran away. My wife came, thinking I was messing with her, but when she saw the wounds, she knew what had happened.”
Researchers Dolma Choekyi Lama, Tsering Tinley and I spoke with Dorje – a 71-year-old resident of Nubri, a Buddhist enclave in the Nepalese highlands – as part of a three-year study of aging and migration.
Now, you may be forgiven for asking what a bear attack on a septuagenarian has to do with demographic change in Nepal. The answer, however, is everything.
In recent years, people across Nepal have witnessed an increase in bear attacks, a phenomenon recorded in news reports and academic studies.
Inhabitants of Nubri are at the forefront of this trend – and one of the main reasons is outmigration. People, especially young people, are leaving for education and employment opportunities elsewhere. It is depleting household labor forces, so much so that over 75% of those who were born in the valley and are now ages 5 to 19 have left and now live outside of Nubri.
It means that many older people, like Dorje and his wife, Tsewang, are left alone in their homes. Two of their daughters live abroad and one is in the capital, Kathmandu. Their only son runs a trekking lodge in another village.
Scarcity of ‘scarebears’
Until recently, when the corn was ripening, parents dispatched young people to the fields to light bonfires and bang pots all night to ward off bears. The lack of young people acting as deterrents, alongside the abandonment of outlying fields, is tempting bears to forage closer to human residences.
Outmigration in Nubri and similar villages is due in large part to a lack of educational and employment opportunities. The problems caused by the removal of younger people have been exacerbated by two other factors driving a rapidly aging population: People are living longer due to improvements in health care and sanitation; and fertility has declined since the early 2000s, from more than six to less than three births per woman.
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These demographic forces have been accelerating population aging for some time, as illustrated by the population pyramid constructed from our 2012 household surveys in Nubri and neighboring Tsum.
A not-so-big surprise, anymore
Nepal is not alone in this phenomenon; similar dynamics are at play elsewhere in Asia. The New York Times reported in November 2025 that bear attacks are on the rise in Japan, too, partly driven by demographic trends. Farms there used to serve as a buffer zone, shielding urban residents from ursine intruders. However, rural depopulation is allowing bears to encroach on more densely populated areas, bringing safety concerns in conflict with conservation efforts.
Dorje can attest to those concerns. When we met him in 2023 he showed us deep claw marks running down his shoulder and arm, and he vowed to refrain from chasing away bears at night.
So in October 2025, Dorje and Tsewang harvested a field before marauding bears could get to it and hauled the corn to their courtyard for safekeeping. The courtyard is surrounded by stone walls piled high with firewood – not a fail-safe barrier but at least a deterrent. They covered the corn with a plastic tarp, and for extra measure Dorje decided to sleep on the veranda.
He described what happened next:
“I woke to a noise that sounded like ‘sharak, sharak.’ I thought it must be a bear rummaging under the plastic. Before I could do anything, the bear came up the stairs. When I shouted, it got frightened, roared and yanked at my mattress. Suddenly my foot was being pulled and I felt pain.”
Dorje suffered deep lacerations to his foot. Trained in traditional Tibetan medicine, he staunched the bleeding using, ironically, a tonic that contained bear liver.
Yet his life was still in danger due to the risk of infection. It took three days and an enormous expense by village standards – equivalent to roughly US$2,000 – before they could charter a helicopter to Kathmandu for further medical attention.
And Dorje is not the only victim. An elderly woman from another village bumped into a bear during a nocturnal excursion to her outhouse. It left her with a horrific slash from forehead to chin – and her son scrambling to find funds for her evacuation and treatment.A woman weeding freshly planted corn across the valley from Trok, Nubri. Geoff Childs, CC BY-SA
So how should Nepal’s highlanders respond to the increase in bear attacks?
Dorje explained that in the past they set lethal traps when bear encroachments became too dangerous. That option vanished with the creation of Manaslu Conservation Area Project, or MCAP, in the 1990s, a federal initiative to manage natural resources that strictly prohibits the killing of wild animals.
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Learning to grin and bear it?
Dorje reasons that if MCAP temporarily relaxed the regulation, villagers could band together to cull the more hostile bears. He informed us that MCAP officials will hear nothing of that option, yet their solutions, such as solar-powered electric fencing, haven’t worked.
Dorje is reflective about the options he faces as young people leave the village, leaving older folk to battle the bears alone.
“At first, I felt that we should kill the bear. But the other side of my heart says, perhaps I did bad deeds in my past life, which is why the bear bit me. The bear came to eat corn, not to attack me. Killing it would just be another sinful act, creating a new cycle of cause and effect. So, why get angry about it?”
It remains to be seen how Nubri’s residents will respond to the mounting threats bears pose to their lives and livelihoods. But one thing is clear: For those who remain behind, the outmigration of younger residents is making the perils more imminent and the solutions more challenging.
Dolma Choekyi Lama and Tsering Tinley made significant contributions to this article. Both are research team members on the author’s project on population in an age of migration.
Blue Origin Launches First Human Spaceflight of 2026 with New Shepard NS-38
Blue Origin successfully completed its first human spaceflight of 2026 with New Shepard NS-38, carrying six private astronauts and marking 98 humans flown to space.
Blue Origin has officially kicked off its 2026 flight calendar, successfully completing the 38th mission of its New Shepard program and further solidifying its role in commercial human spaceflight.
The suborbital flight, known as NS-38, carried six private astronauts beyond the Kármán line, offering several minutes of weightlessness and sweeping views of Earth before a safe return to West Texas. The mission marks the first New Shepard launch of 2026 and another milestone for Blue Origin’s reusable spaceflight system.
With this flight, New Shepard has now flown 98 humans into space, representing 92 individual passengers. The growing total reflects Blue Origin’s emphasis on routine, repeatable access to space—once considered experimental, now becoming operational.
A Reliable Start to 2026
Blue Origin leadership emphasized reliability and customer trust as central priorities moving into the new year.
“As we enter 2026, we’re focused on continuing to deliver transformational experiences for our customers through the proven capability and reliability of New Shepard,” said Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President of New Shepard. “We are grateful for our astronaut customers who put their trust in our team to bring this experience into reality.”
The fully reusable New Shepard rocket and capsule system has demonstrated strong safety performance, autonomous operations, and consistent recovery—key elements in scaling human spaceflight.
Building Toward a Larger Vision
Beyond space tourism, New Shepard plays a foundational role in Blue Origin’s long-term goal of enabling millions of people to live and work in space for the benefit of Earth.
As the company’s first operational human spaceflight system, New Shepard supports:
Reusable launch vehicle testing
Human-rated safety system validation
Increased launch cadence and manufacturing expertise
Future Blue Origin programs and missions
Each successful flight expands operational confidence while helping normalize commercial access to space.
What’s Next for Aspiring Astronauts
Blue Origin continues to accept interest from future New Shepard passengers, with additional flights expected throughout 2026. The company also released commemorative merchandise from the NS-38 mission, now available through the Blue Origin Shop.
As commercial spaceflight matures, missions like NS-38 highlight the industry’s shift from novelty to normalcy—bringing space closer to scientists, explorers, and private citizens alike.
For more updates, insights, and in-depth coverage of space exploration and commercial spaceflight, visit the STM Daily News blog at stmdailynews.com. From mission breakdowns to industry trends and technology explainers, STM Daily News keeps you informed about humanity’s journey beyond Earth.
