Monday, August 25, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Scientists regrow ‘extinct’ prehistoric tree

Published 13 February 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The pine grows only a few centimeters per year - but can reach over 40 meters in height.
2 minute read

In secret locations, scientists are trying to preserve and reintroduce the Wollemia, previously thought to be extinct for millions of years. The sites are closed to the public because of the risks to the trees.

The Wollemia (Wollemia nobilis) is a coniferous tree of the Araucariaceae family. It is described as having lived alongside dinosaurs as early as 91 million years ago and was previously thought to be long extinct.

In 1994, however, David Noble found a grove of these trees in the national park where he was working in the Blue Mountains of Sydney, Australia. The find has been called “the botanical find of the century. The grove contains 90 wollemias, the only ones ever found in the wild.

Since the discovery, a team of scientists has been working to preserve these prehistoric trees. Three translocation sites have been established by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) in Australia.

– A translocation site is somewhere where we introduce a threatened species into another location in an area, in order to kind of provide an insurance population, Dave Crust, director of the NPWS, told the ABC.

Vulnerable population

The relocation sites were created in 2019 with more than 300 trees planted. They were planted in different locations, in different positions, to learn how the trees grow best.

– The population was at a number where any significant event impacting … could have caused their extinction, so we’re at a point now where we’re trying to rebuild that population, says Crust.

Wollemitall grows only a few centimeters per year and can reach over 40 meters in height. The trees that have been planted are now between 30 centimeters and two meters high. The trees do not mature until they can reach the sunlight above the canopy.

– That’s usually about 20 or 30 metres, so you do the maths. That’s many decades, he says and continues:

– In over 30 years of monitoring them, the Wollemi Pine recovery team has never seen a seedling, or a juvenile tree, make it to adulthood.

Threats to the trees

Before visiting the areas, the group must thoroughly clean themselves and their equipment. They must then constantly spray their boots, clothing and equipment with a special solution of methylated spirits to reduce the risk of spreading diseases. The areas are off limits to the public because of the risks and can result in fines of over €300,000 and jail time. Other major threats include possible forest fires.

– One of the biggest dangers that we have is people actually come and visit these. We know people want to but they really can’t, said Penny Sharpe, NPWS Environment Minister.

Shoots of the trees have also been sent to various botanical gardens and can be purchased at nurseries. This is an attempt to save the species and discourage people from trying to access both the wild grove and the migration sites. In Sweden, there are specimens in the Botanical Garden in Uppsala and the Botanical Garden in Lund. There are also two specimens in Slottsträdgården, Ulriksdal in Stockholm.

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The best seasonal produce to enjoy in August

Published 17 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
3 minute read

Summer is slowly coming to an end – but in August, both gardens and nature are flourishing. Now everything from apples and zucchini to chanterelles and blueberries is being harvested, and it’s now that many ingredients are at their very best.

August is the prime harvest month in Northern Europe – gardens, allotments, and forest edges are overflowing with fruit, vegetables, and berries. This is when flavors peak, as produce has had time to ripen naturally under the long summer days. Here are some of the nutritious foods harvested across Northern Europe in August.

Apples

Some apples can usually be harvested in August. Among others, the varieties Discovery, Alice, Transparente Blanche, according to ICA (Swedish grocery chain). Sure, it’s nice to buy Swedish apples in the store, but if a neighbor or friend has an apple tree, maybe it’s worth asking if it’s okay to pick some without extra detours…

Cabbage varieties

Cabbage can easily be attacked by pests during cultivation, but if you’ve managed to avoid them, it’s now that you can usually harvest many cabbage varieties. Broccoli and cauliflower are, for example, nutrient-dense vegetables that can be harvested in August. Broccoli contains more vitamin C, vitamin K, protein, iron and calcium compared to cauliflower, but both are good sources of fiber and also B vitamins.

August is also the main time you can find locally grown fennel in stores. It’s a crisp vegetable with a distinctive anise and licorice flavor, used both raw and cooked. Try it thinly sliced in salads or roasted in the oven. Fennel seeds are also a common bread spice.

Also, among others, white cabbage, black kale, napa cabbage and pointed cabbage are usually harvested in August.

Cucumber

The long cucumber is a popular greenhouse crop in Northern Europe, often eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches. Smaller pickling cucumbers are also common for preserves. Since cucumbers are very frost-sensitive, August is prime harvest time.

Zucchini

Zucchini can often be harvested as early as July, but in August the plants usually produce an abundance. It’s an excellent cooking vegetable, perfect for dishes like lasagna. Zucchini is rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Cherries

Right now cherries are growing in large numbers in gardens across Northern Europe, notes among others the magazine Land (Swedish agricultural publication). However, they are not sold on a large scale in stores, but even in these cases it can pay off to check with the neighbor if it’s okay to pick a handful or two since they in many cases otherwise remain unpicked. In the refrigerator, the berries can keep for several weeks. Cherries are rich in antioxidants and also contain some vitamin C as well as potassium.

Radish and celery

The root vegetable daikon radish (similar to large radishes) can be used in all types of cooking, from stews to oven-roasted dishes. It’s also a key ingredient in the fermented Korean dish kimchi. Celery is also harvested in August, rich in vitamins and minerals, and tasty both raw and cooked.

Out in the forest…

It’s not only gardens that provide Northern Europe’s seasonal produce – nature offers treasures too. Right now is peak season for golden chanterelles, and wild raspberries can also be harvested (just watch out for larvae that sometimes hide in ripe berries). It’s also the season for the northern delicacy cloudberries, and of course, blueberries.

New study of national park: Wolves helped nature recover

Biodiversity

Published 17 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
A wolf in Yellowstone National Park during 2016.
2 minute read

The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park has contributed to an ecological recovery after decades of damage to plant and animal life. Now a new study shows that the park’s aspen populations are finally beginning to reestablish themselves – apparently thanks to the predator’s impact on the ecosystem.

During the 1930s, wolves were completely eradicated from Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. This had major consequences for the ecosystem – as the deer population increased dramatically and began grazing intensively in the park. This led to a sharp decline in trees like aspens. Aspen is considered a keystone species in the park, and its decline affected other species that depend on the deciduous trees, including beavers, insects and birds.

In the 1990s, wolves were reintroduced to the park, which immediately changed the deer’s behavior – not only by taking some as prey, but primarily by causing the deer to stop grazing for long periods in the same places. The result was that vegetation recovered, which has had a major effect on biodiversity.

Remarkable change

Now researchers have documented the first new generation of aspens in the park. In the study, which was published in Forest Ecology and Management, researchers argue that the wolf’s return has contributed to the species’ recovery.

The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades, says the study’s lead author Luke Painter, who teaches ecology and conservation at OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, in a press release. About a third of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all.

Another third of the examined stands had areas with tall saplings that were growing up to become new trees in the canopy layer, while the rest were still being held back by grazing. Researchers believe this may be due to bison increasing in certain parts of the park. The fact that stands with many tall saplings have low levels of grazing, while others continue to be held back, suggests that aspen recovery depends on an ecological chain reaction where predators affect plant life by reducing the number of grazing animals – rather than on factors like climate or soil fertility.

This is a remarkable case of ecological restoration, says Painter. Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity.

Radioactive method ready for use against poaching

Biodiversity

Published 11 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Rhinos are being injected with radioactive material.
2 minute read

After an extended testing period, the Rhisotope project in South Africa is now in full operation. The technology, which makes rhino horns both traceable and unattractive to poachers, can now be used on a large scale.

It was in June last year that researchers injected radioactive material into the horns of 20 rhinos in South Africa. The project, called the Rhisotope Project and led by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) in South Africa, began six years ago with the idea of stopping poaching of the endangered rhinos. The concept was that the radioactive material should be detectable at border controls, but also becomes toxic to consume. Furthermore, the radioactive material should be harmless to the rhinos.

Now the project has been thoroughly tested and reached full operational status, writes Wits University in a press release.

We have demonstrated, beyond scientific doubt, that the process is completely safe for the animal and effective in making the horn detectable through international customs nuclear security systems, says James Larkin, professor at Wits University and scientific director of the Rhisotope Project.

Sold as “medicine”

Rhino poaching is a recurring problem, particularly in South Africa. Last year, 420 rhinos were killed illegally in the country, where the horns often end up on the black market. They are often sold as medicine and can be worth more than gold. The treatment is carried out by sedating the rhino and then drilling a small hole in its horn. Two small isotopes with radioactive material are then inserted.

This means in practice that private and public rhino owners, non-governmental organizations and conservation authorities can contact the Rhisotope Project to treat their rhinos with the radioactive material.

Our goal is to deploy the Rhisotope technology at scale to help protect one of Africa’s most iconic and threatened species. By doing so, we safeguard not just rhinos but a vital part of our natural heritage, says Jessica Babich, CEO of the Rhisotope Project.

Swedish crayfish threatened with extinction

Biodiversity

Published 10 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
From 30,000 population to under 600 – the noble crayfish is critically endangered.
2 minute read

Crayfish plague continues to devastate Sweden’s native noble crayfish. In just a few decades, populations have plummeted from around 30,000 to fewer than 600 – and the trend continues downward.

The biggest culprit is illegal releases of non-native signal crayfish, which are themselves heavily fished and can also be affected by the disease.

The signal crayfish, which spreads the disease, has increased dramatically and today exists in between 10,000 and 15,000 populations. In Värmland, a province in western Sweden, illegal releases have been documented in as many as 239 bodies of water between 2000 and 2024.

— Noble crayfish populations in Värmland and Dalsland were 430 in the early 2000s; today only 60 remain, says Lennart Edsman, crayfish expert and researcher at the Freshwater Laboratory at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), to Swedish news agency TT.

When August and crayfish season arrives, the question arises of which species the environmentally conscious consumer should choose for their crayfish party.

— You should eat noble crayfish if you can afford it. That gives them value that makes them worth protecting. And you should eat signal crayfish too, but absolutely not spread them, Edsman believes.

Imports worth hundreds of millions

Swedes eat far more crayfish than the country can produce. Between 70 and 80 percent of the crayfish on tables are imported. In 2023, imports amounted to a value of €40 million, while Swedish crayfish were sold for €27 million.

Previously, the largest portion of imports came from China, but today Spain, Turkey and also Egypt dominate the Swedish market.

Most Swedish-caught crayfish are signal crayfish, with a large share coming from lakes Vättern and Hjälmaren in central Sweden. Recently, however, many consumers have complained that the crayfish have become smaller.

— This is partly because fishing has been too intensive. There is great demand for crayfish in this country. Sweden is quite extreme when it comes to crayfish consumption, Edsman explains.

The signal crayfish originates from western North America, as does crayfish plague – a parasitic algae fungus. Although the species is more resistant than the noble crayfish, it is not immune to the disease.

How the signal crayfish took over

The signal crayfish originally comes from western North America and was introduced to Sweden in the 1960s as a way to replace the noble crayfish, which had been severely affected by crayfish plague at the time. The idea was to preserve crayfish fishing and its economic benefits, since the signal crayfish is more resistant to the disease than the noble crayfish.

The problem is that the signal crayfish carries the very crayfish plague – a parasitic water mold – that is deadly to the noble crayfish. Although the invasive species itself can be affected, it is significantly more resilient, which means it functions as a disease carrier and accelerates the decline of the noble crayfish.

Since its introduction, the signal crayfish has spread rapidly and is now found in between 10,000 and 15,000 populations across Sweden. Many of these have resulted from illegal releases. The consequence is that the noble crayfish has declined from around 30,000 populations to fewer than 600 throughout the country.

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