The weather’s warm and the kids are on summer vacation, which means it’s the perfect time to get outside and encounter the insect icon of summertime: the firefly. 

Did you know?

•    Fireflies are actually beetles, not flies.  Lightening bug, their other common name, is also inaccurate since true bugs are their own order of insects, distinct from beetles.

•    Fireflies create their "fire" by mixing oxygen with chemicals called luciferin and luciferase in their abdomen, which creates light without any heat.  A candle flame of the same brightness is 80,000 times hotter than the glow of a firefly.

•    Each species has a unique flash pattern, which they use to attract mates.  Males flash in the air and females flash back from the ground or the vegetation.

•    The species Lucidota atra doesn’t flash because it is active during the day.  It attracts mates by using pheromones.

•    Firefly larvae glow too and are often called “glow worms.”  Even the eggs of some species glow.

•    Most species of firefly spend the winter in larval form in the soil or in rotting logs, emerging in the late spring as winged adults ready to start flashing and looking for mates.

•    Firefly larvae are carnivorous, feeding on slugs, worms and other soft-bodied invertebrates around streams and ponds.

•    As adults, some firefly species feed on nectar, and some don't feed at all, but female Photuris pensylvatica fireflies mimic the flashes of female Photinus pyralis fireflies.  When a Photinus male approaches looking for a mate, the female Photuris devours him!

A new species of bird has been discovered by scientists in Laos. The bird is Asia's first new species of bulbul, a songbird, in more than 100 years,

Physorg.com reports:

"An odd songbird with a bald head living in a rugged region in Laos has been discovered by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and University of Melbourne, as part of a project funded and managed by the mining company MMG (Minerals and Metals Group) that operates the Sepon copper and gold project in the region.

The thrush-sized bird is greenish-olive with a light-colored breast, a distinctive featherless, pink face with bluish skin around the eye extending to the bill and a narrow line of hair-like feathers down the centre of the crown."

See full article:

A new study finds some signs of recovery from overfishing in several areas around the globe.

Physorg.com reports:

Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment on the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems. The two-year study, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington and including an international team of 19 co-authors, shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the ten large marine ecosystems that they examined. The paper, which appears in the July 31 issue of the journal Science, provides new hope for rebuilding troubled fisheries.

See full article.

Friends of wildlife, meet the mule deer in his native Rocky Mountain habitat. The mule deer is a common species. You can see them all over the western United States, with their wiggly ears and winsome eyes. But just because they're 'common' doesn't mean they don't need our help.

Right now, lawmakers are considering a bill called America's Wildlife Heritage Act. The bill empowers federal land managers to maintain healthy levels of wildlife species so that we can keep wildlife habitats healthy and thriving for future generations.

Under current law, animals don't get federal protection until they're endangered and their population numbers are critically low. But if this new law passes, we can make sure this deer and others will continue to be common everyday creatures in our natural world.

Why wait? Let's protect America's wildlife today--before it becomes critical.

Sometimes articles about government tightening its belt and articles about government trying to save money can sound awfully similar. Case in point - today's Wall Street Journal:

The Justice Department estimates it can save $573,000 through fiscal 2010 by setting up its printers and copiers to use both sides of the paper. By emailing some documents instead of printing them out, the Department of Homeland Security will save $318,000.

Both Homeland Security and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have pledged to take the same step that has sent the newspaper industry into a tailspin: They will start getting their news online free, rather than renew their subscriptions. Homeland Security will save $47,160, or 0.0000026% of the deficit. [...]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to save $3.8 million by refurbishing and reusing or selling its emergency trailers -- like the ones provided to people displaced by hurricanes -- instead of ditching them.

The Wall Street Journal article focused exclusively on the financial savings. But eliminating the need for nearly $1 million worth of paper products and keeping dozens of trailers out of a landfill? Sounds pretty green to me.

Ever feel like you're wasting time on Wikipedia or Google? You probably are. I know I am. But today, I found a way to continue wasting hours on the internet and feel great about it. Facebook Causes has launched a new search bar that gives money to your favorite cause, each time you do a web search.

I'm a bit biased, of course, and chose for my searches to go toward the National Wildlife Federation's Facebook Cause.

So now, 1 cent is donated to support NWF's work to protect wildlife every time I wonder just what is up with a star-nosed mole...

...or just how come the axolotl is always so happy...

Now you're wondering, right? Well before you google axolotl, set up the new search bar, and give a penny to NWF.

Here's how:

1. If you haven't already, download the Facebook Causes Application.

2. Find a cause to support, such as National Wildlife Federation or Protect Wildlife

3. Download the new Facebook Cause search bar, and set it to donate to your favorite wildlife group.

4. Get to searching!

Everytime you use the search bar to look up something new, Causes will donate one cent to the cause of your choice (NWF, right?). This app is brand new, and will only work in Firefox and Internet Explorer at the moment.

Does that mean it's buggy? Yeah, it's got a few kinks to be worked out, but the developers are quick to get back to you if you've got a question, and they're looking to make the toolbar better. Become an early adopter--two good deeds for the price of one.

Leave a comment below if you try out the toolbar, and want to let us know what you think. And leave a comment if your searches lead you to find any other interesting creatures. 

What if someone told you that by spending just $43, you could make $100 back? Sounds like a great deal to me.

Well, that's the potential return on investment of energy efficiency according to a new report:

A new report on energy efficiency from the consulting firm McKinsey found that the United States could save $1.2 trillion through 2020, by investing $520 billion in improvements like sealing leaky building ducts and replacing inefficient household appliances with new, energy-saving models.

That investment would cut the country’s projected energy use in 2020 by about 23 percent — a savings that would be “greater than the total of energy consumption of Canada,” said Ken Ostrowski, a senior partner in McKinsey’s Atlanta office, at a press event in Washington this morning. It would also more than offset the expected growth in energy use that would be expected otherwise in the United States.

Here's part of what Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson had to say about the report:

The energy that most effectively cuts costs, protects us from climate change, and reduces our dependence of foreign oil is the energy that’s never used in the first place. According to McKinsey’s report, energy efficiency improvements alone can reduce consumption more than 20 percent by 2020 and prevent up to 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gases annually, helping America lead the way in averting the worst effects of climate change. The McKinsey report reveals new possibilities for energy efficiency, and will be instrumental in engaging consumers, businesses and everyone else to cut energy consumption, reduce harmful emissions, and save money on electricity.

The report only reinforces the need for comprehensive climate & clean energy legislation. Please take a moment now to tell Congress to take action!

A interesting new car design could increase mileage tenfold.

Forums.nasioc.com reports:

"Accelerated Composites, LLC, has designed a two-seat passenger car that will achieve up to 330 MPG and sell for under $20,000. The lightweight composite, hybrid car will post this fuel efficiency in normal city and highway driving and demonstrate acceleration and handling similar to that of a Honda Insight. Dubbed the Aptera(C), the vehicle achieves these remarkable numbers through the use of cutting-edge materials, manufacturing methods, and a maverick design mantra.

"It looks like nothing you've ever seen because it performs like nothing you've ever seen," says Accelerated Composites founder and CEO, Steve Fambro. 'What we've done is changed the way cars are thought of and designed. Rather than designing to a styling aesthetic, like the big auto makers do, we hew to an efficiency and safety aesthetic. When you do that, math and physics mostly dictate the shape of the car, and in this case math and physics look awesome.'" See full article.

A university-based contest called "Fly Your Idea" is producing interesting ideas for more environmentally-sound flight including borrowing some ideas from geese.

Physorg.com reports:

"A team of five doctoral students from the Aeronautics and Astronautics program has conceptualized a way for commercial planes to save fuel by flying in formation. The concept of formation flight for drag reduction, which the team says can increase fuel efficiency and reduce harmful engine emissions, is borrowed from migratory birds.

The Stanford Aircraft Aerodynamics and Design Group will fly to France .... to pitch their vision as finalists in a design contest sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The "Fly Your Ideas" contest, which serves as an international call for original concepts to make commercial flight more environmentally responsible, has inspired various possibilities, such as solar cells for aircraft, and planes with windowless cabins." See full article

That's right -- goats!  When mowing practices were found dangerously harmful to bog turtles in Maryland, a different (more ancient) mowing technique was employed.

The Baltimore Sun reports:

"The State Highway Administration has come up with a creative solution to the question of how to cut the grass in the vicinity of its Hampstead Bypass project without imperiling the already-threatened bog turtle (above) and its Carroll County habitat: goats. The agency is using a local farmer's herd of 40 goats to act as four-legged lawnmowers in the construction zone. It said traditional mechanical lawnmowers posed a danger to both the boggy wetlands and the reptiles themselves. According to the SHA, it considered using cattle but decided they were too big to interact safely with the 4-inch bog turtle." See full article.