All posts tagged: penguins

Macaroni penguins are surprisingly buff

Macaroni penguins are surprisingly buff

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletterđź’ˇ Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Some pretty tough muscles lay beneath the macaroni penguin’s (Eudyptes chrysolophus) somewhat goofy exterior. These small penguins from the islands and waters of the South Atlantic Ocean are known for their distinctive bright-yellow plumes. They are also built for powerful and efficient movement for both walking and swimming, according to a study recently published in the journal The Anatomical Record. Since penguins don’t fly through the air like most birds, they’ve evolved to fly through the water instead. For macaroni penguins, their key wing muscles look different than in flying birds. For example, a muscle responsible for lifting the wing called the supracoracoideus is much larger in penguins. A bigger supracoracoideus allows them to generate more power during the upstroke and downstroke of their flipper motion, which appears to be a crucial adaptation for swimming through dense water. This special configuration of shoulder muscles also gives penguins a stroke akin to underwater flying that has a stronger backwards component. This …

Emperor penguins added to endangered list after rapid decline

Emperor penguins added to endangered list after rapid decline

Published by skeptic

Emperor penguins could go extinct by 2100 Stefan Christmann/naturepl.com Two of Antarctica’s most iconic species, the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), have declined so dramatically and rapidly that they have been classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List. A third Antarctic species, the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), has had its status updated from “least concern” to “vulnerable”. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) runs the Red List, which is regarded as the world’s most comprehensive listing of the global conservation status of animal, fungus and plant species. Satellite images show that around 10 per cent of the emperor penguin population was lost between 2009 and 2018, equating to more than 20,000 adults, according to the IUCN. Projections suggest that the population will halve by the 2080s. “After careful consideration of different possible threats, we concluded that human-induced climate change poses the most significant threat to emperor penguins,” said Philip Trathan, at the British Antarctic Survey, and a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, in …

This Watch Featuring Two Penguins Smashing Is Somehow Not an April Fools’ Day Joke

This Watch Featuring Two Penguins Smashing Is Somehow Not an April Fools’ Day Joke

Published by Jenni Sidey

Between the unremitting stream of AI slop, conspiracy theories, unsourced gossip, and deepfake videos, my patience for April Fools’ Day is at an all-time low. I’ve already trained myself to believe basically nothing I read or see on the internet without checking multiple sources, and here comes a whole day encouraging even more prankery. Enough. So my first thought when I woke up today and saw an alleged new watch from Swiss brand Nivada Grenchen—which features an automaton of two penguins exploring each other’s torpedo-shaped bodies on the caseback—I immediately dismissed it as a lurid prank and moved on. But as it turns out, the joke is on us. I saw the new “Antarctic Erotic” enough times that I finally sent an email to the brand’s PR rep to confirm it wasn’t a joke. “No joke at all!” they wrote back. “But a good amount of humor.” The very-real Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Erotic starts with a serious foundation. The Antarctic model is an identity touchpoint for the brand, which was founded in Grenchen, Switzerland, in …

King penguins are thriving in a warmer climate, but it may not last

King penguins are thriving in a warmer climate, but it may not last

Published by skeptic

Two king penguins calling in the middle of a colony on Possession Island, a French territory in the southern Indian Ocean GaĂ«l BARDON (CSM/CNRS/IPEV) King penguins are not just surviving, but thriving as temperatures rise in the sub-Antarctic, with more of their chicks surviving to maturity. Yet although the species looks like a climate change winner, some researchers fear it could eventually lose access to crucial food sources and decline. King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Possession Island, a French territory midway between Antarctica and Madagascar, began breeding about 19 days earlier in 2023 than they did in 2000. Thanks to this longer breeding season, 62 per cent of chicks now survive on average, up from 44 per cent in 2000, according to research by GaĂ«l Bardon at the Monaco Scientific Center and his colleagues. “With king penguins, we can see that there are super-fast changes in the Southern Ocean that are good for them for the moment, but for the long term, we don’t really know,” says Bardon. Pairs of king penguins, which are recognisable …

A huge iceberg becomes a deadly trap for penguins

A huge iceberg becomes a deadly trap for penguins

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletterđź’ˇ Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. A massive iceberg has triggered a catastrophic die-off of Emperor Penguin chicks in Antarctica, blocking thousands of parents from reaching their young. The event claimed the lives of approximately 14,000 chicks at the Coulman Island colony in the Ross Sea, the region’s largest breeding ground. According to a research team led by Dr. Jeong-hoon Kim of the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), survival rates at the colony plummeted by 70 percent. Satellite analysis and drone surveys reveal that the population of new chicks fell from roughly 21,000 last year to just 6,700 this season. A geographical trap The primary cause of this event was an iceberg, spanning nearly 14 kilometers. Field observations by KOPRI researchers Jong-U Kim and Youmin Kim confirmed that the ice had obstructed the critical gateway connecting the breeding ground to the open ocean. Satellite analysis indicates the iceberg calved from the Nansen Ice Shelf in March 2025. It drifted northward before grounding against Coulman Island. …

March of the penguins: the Golden Globes red carpet marks the return of the staid black suit | Golden Globes 2026

March of the penguins: the Golden Globes red carpet marks the return of the staid black suit | Golden Globes 2026

Published by Sam Flores

TimothĂ©e Chalamet was the final clue. As he arrived in good time on the Golden Globes red carpet, the star of Marty Supreme put pay to speculation as to whether the chromatic marketing of the film’s ping pong balls would have him wearing orange. Instead, he wore a black T-shirt; vest, jacket and Timberland boots with silver buttons by Chrome Hearts, souped up with a five-figure Cartier necklace. Kylie Jenner, his partner and sartorial foil, was nowhere to be seen. Styled by Taylor McNeill, who was also responsible for Chalamet’s wildly amusing if chaotic red carpet campaign for the film, the look was bad boy Bond. It also set the tone for an evening of subdued tones. If we thought the penguin suit had gone extinct, we were wrong. The performative male is over – welcome to the return of the staid suit. Black is the new orange: TimothĂ©e Chalamet on the red carpet. Photograph: Sthanlee Mirador/PA The Globes are about the movies and winners, but its red carpet is a dry run for the …