“A petite, flightless grasshopper once thought to be extinct has been spotted in Virginia for the first time in nearly 80 years.

The last time anyone officially documented the Appalachian grasshopper (Appalachia hebardi) in the state was in 1946, according to a January statement from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

But Andrew Rapp, a field zoologist with the department’s Natural Heritage Program, recently captured an adult female in the northwest part of Virginia—proof that the elusive species has not completely disappeared.”

From Smithsonian Magazine.

“Hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes are once again flocking to central Nebraska during their annual migration—and so far, the leggy birds appear to be unaffected by the highly contagious bird flu strain H5N1.

Wildlife biologists in Nebraska remain concerned about the possibility of the deadly virus spreading through the huge numbers of the gray birds with red caps that congregate on the Platte River every spring.

But, as they reach the likely peak of their migration this year, the birds seem to be happy and healthy. No crane deaths have been reported in Nebraska so far, reports NTV News’ Jack Bartlett.

Bird flu aside, Nebraska biologists have another reason to celebrate: During their weekly aerial crane survey on March 17, the fifth week of the migration, they counted roughly 736,000 sandhill cranes between the towns of Chapman and Overton, Nebraska, which are roughly 80 miles apart. That’s an all-time, record-high number of cranes counted in the region at once—and it’s probably an underestimate.”

From Smithsonian Magazine.

“RIKEN researchers have now developed a new type of plastic that can work just as well as the regular stuff when it’s needed, and break down readily into safe compounds when it’s not. It’s made of what are known as supramolecular polymers, which have reversible bonds that function like sticky notes that can be attached, removed and reattached, according to the team.”

From New Atlas.

“A major review of over 67,000 animal species has found that while the natural world continues to face a biodiversity crisis, targeted conservation efforts are helping bring many species back from the brink of extinction…

The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge with the IUCN, BirdLife International, and Oxford and Durham Universities, used Red List data to assess whether conservation measures had been put in place, and whether those actions had a positive impact on a given species’ conservation status.

‘We found that almost all the species that have moved from a more threatened category to a less threatened category have benefited from some sort of conservation measures,’ said lead author Ashley Simkins, a Ph.D. candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Zoology. ‘It’s a strong signal that conservation works.'”

From Phys.org.