The real reason Ireland has no snakes

March 17, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The real reason there are no snakes in Ireland It wasn’t Saint Patrick but a long history of chilly weather and geographic isolation that kept the Emerald Isle snake-free By K. R. Callaway edited by Andrea Thompson Lanmas/Alamy; Illustration composite by Scientific American When…

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Georgia farmers’ long wait for Helene relief is ending

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station. Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited Georgia to announce the release of more than $500 million to help farmers rebuild from 2024’s Hurricane Helene. The widespread agricultural and forestry devastation from Helene cost the state’s economy…

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Rainbow-colored phantom lakes emerge around Namibia’s ‘Great White Place’ — Earth from space

QUICK FACTS Where is it? Etosha Pan, Namibia [-18.5946865, 16.04684972] What’s in the photo? A series of colorful, ephemeral lakes that appeared after a flooding event Who took the photo? An unnamed astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS) When was it taken? Dec. 30, 2011 This intriguing astronaut photo shows off the contrasting…

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Dinos hatched eggs less efficiently than modern birds, researchers show

What do we really know about how oviraptors—bird-like but flightless dinosaurs—hatched their eggs? Did they use environmental heat, like crocodiles, or body heat from an adult, like birds? In a new Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study, researchers in Taiwan examined the brooding behavior and hatching patterns of oviraptors. They also modeled heat transfer simulations…

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A Bit of Gray on an Emerald Isle

Today’s story is the answer to the March 2026 puzzler. Though Ireland is known for the many shades of green that grace its grassy pastoral landscapes, there’s one corner of the Emerald Isle where gray reigns supreme. In the Burren region, on the island’s west coast, what geologists describe as limestone pavement covers much of…

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