Public Radio International (PRI)

Q: Why are Bluebirds blue? (Photo: A Bluebird feeds its young. By Steve Corey, Flickr)

A: Unlike many other bird colors, blue is not a pigment. It’s a color produced by the structure of the feathers. Tiny air pockets and melanin pigment crystals in each feather scatter blue light and absorb the other wavelengths. That beautiful blue light leaves the feather to dazzle the eye of the beholder. More.

Five nations in Southern Africa — Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe — have recently agreed to create the largest wildlife conservation area in the world. Roughly the size of California, the new preserve will allow migratory animals like elephants and rhinos to roam more freely. (Photo: Lions in Botswana. From Globalpost.com)

World Wildlife Fund’s Chris Weaver says this initiative has far-reaching impact.

“Most people, when they think of conservation and wildlife, they think of biodiversity and their love for animals,” Weaver said. “But what conservation can do in this case is that it can create stability between five governments that haven’t worked that closely in the past and create a common vision and a cohesiveness in attainment of that vision over time, which in turn helps regional stability in southern Africa.”

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Ecovative Design in upstate New York is producing alternative packing material out of mushrooms and agricultural waste. The packaging material can be formed into shapes to ship many items, including wine bottles. (Photo: Dana Oxiles, Living on Earth)

The U.S. goes through 19 billion pounds of Styrofoam a year, and that’s just from the peanut–shaped, packing stuff. Bubble wrap and Styrofoam are lightweight and cheap but both are made from petroleum, and once used, they often wind up in landfills forever. That’s where Ecovative Deisgn comes in.

“We’ve actually looked to nature to grow the next generation of materials using a living fungus, what’s called a fungal mycelium, which you can think of as mushroom roots, to bind the waste particles together,” Ecovative co-founder Gavin McIntyre explains. “And what you’re left with is a material that feels and performs just like foam, but it’s 100 percent compostable in your backyard.”

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Cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument (photo by Flickr user robeposse).

The cherry trees in Washington D.C. will soon be busting out all over. It was a hundred years ago, back in 1912, that Japan gave the U.S. 3,000 cherry trees. A gift from the people of Japan to America.

The cherry trees were planted along the Tidal Basin in the nation’s capital and their pink and white flowers are a sure sign that spring has sprung. During the 100th anniversary National Cherry Blossom Festival later this month, more than a million people will stop and smell the flowers and take in the intoxicating sight.

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The Clint Eastwood of caterpillars.

Some people look at caterpillars and see creepy crawlers. Others, like biologist Dave Wagner, look at caterpillars and see gorgeous creatures that play an essential role in nature’s biodiversity.

Wagner says caterpillars that are bright reds, yellows or oranges  in color are trouble:

“These are the Clint Eastwood caterpillars. Basically you’re a bad dude, and you’re trying to advertise to any would-be predator that perhaps you’d be better off looking elsewhere for a meal.”