All posts tagged: turtles

Hello Helvetica! Vets name rescued sea turtles named after fonts

Hello Helvetica! Vets name rescued sea turtles named after fonts

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Helvetica and verdana aren’t just fonts. They’re also a few of the new names bestowed upon sea turtles that a team from the New England Aquarium’s turtle hospital rehabilitated this year. This winter, almost 500 live turtles washed up along the shores of Cape Cod Bay, with many suffering from hypothermia following the annual cold stunning season. Cold stunning occurs when water temperatures rapidly drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, shocking cold-blooded turtles into weak, inactive states that impact their swimming ability.  Most of the rescued turtles were stabilized and moved to secondary rehabilitation centers. Fifty-eight of the group remain at the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital, an animal care facility in Quincy, Massachusetts. These long-term residents are still recovering from shell wounds and fractures, and various infections in their lungs, joints, and shells. Some have a long road to recovery before they’re released back into their habitat. Turtle hospital The aquarium staff, volunteers, and interns have a tradition …

Best Magic The Gathering deal: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Draft Night preorders new best price

Best Magic The Gathering deal: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Draft Night preorders new best price

Published by skeptic

TL;DR: Preorders of Magic: The Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Draft Night are $86.99 at Amazon ahead of the March 6, 2026 release. Credit: Magic: The Gathering $86.99 at Amazon $119.99 Save $33 If you’ve been eyeing Wizards’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover but didn’t want to commit to a full trading card booster box buy-in, this is the perfect time to jump on a preorder before it releases this week. As of March 4, Amazon has cut the Magic: The Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Draft Night box to $86.99, down from the $119.99 list price. Amazon’s listing also notes the “pre-order price guarantee,” so if it dips again before launch on March 6, you’ll get the lowest price. Mashable Trend Report Mashable Deals By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of …

Sea turtles may be more resilient to global warming than we thought

Sea turtles may be more resilient to global warming than we thought

Published by skeptic

A young loggerhead turtle in the Caribbean Sea near the Bahamas WaterFrame/Alamy Sea turtles may be better able to cope with climate change than we had thought. Biologists are concerned that the reptiles might face extinction because warmer conditions will encourage most turtle eggs to develop into females. But it turns out the animals have a genetic safety net that could help them retain a more even balance between sexes even as temperatures rise. “We believe we have uncovered the capacity of turtles to adjust to the environment they are in,” says Chris Eizaguirre at Queen Mary University of London. The sex of baby sea turtles isn’t set by a sex-determining chromosome – as happens in many animals, including humans – but by the temperature inside the nest. Lab studies have shown that, at lower nest temperatures, more hatchlings will be male and at higher ones, more will be female, leading to fears that global warming will cause ever more turtles to hatch as female. For example, a 2018 genetic study found that about 99 …

Ancient tracks may record stampede of turtles disturbed by earthquake

Ancient tracks may record stampede of turtles disturbed by earthquake

Published by skeptic

The possible turtle tracks at Monte Cònero, Italy Paolo Sandroni Strange impressions in a rock face in Italy may have been left by a stampede of sea turtles disturbed by an earthquake around 83 million years ago. Free climbers discovered the unusual features in an area that is off limits to the public on the slopes of Monte Cònero on Italy’s east coast. There are more than 1000 prints in two locations – one more than 100 metres above the ocean, and a second shelf that has fallen to La Vela beach. These rocks consist of limestone that formed from fine sediment on a shallow seabed in the Cretaceous period. The climbers took photos that were later shown to Alessandro Montanari at the Geological Observatory of Coldigioco in Italy and his colleagues. The scientists then gained permission from the managers of the Cònero Regional Park to survey the area on foot and with drones. Montanari says it is impossible to be certain what animals made the markings, but only two groups of vertebrates inhabited the …

Trafficked turtles get a second chance at life in New Jersey sanctuary

Trafficked turtles get a second chance at life in New Jersey sanctuary

Published by skeptic

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Nestled in rural New Jersey’s rolling hills, a top secret animal sanctuary is keeping its occupants safe. The oasis is not for the official state animal (the horse) or even birds rescued from the Jersey shore. This hidden refuge belongs to turtles and tortoises.  “The goal with most of these is to get them back into the wild,” Maurice Rodrigues told Popular Science during a recent visit to the sanctuary.  A conservation biologist and realtor by training, Rodrigues co-founded the Turtle Conservancy in 2005 with entrepreneur and filmmaker Eric Goode. This eastern outpost of the Turtle Conservancy takes in abandoned, homeless, and illegally trafficked reptiles confiscated at airports in the New York City metro area. According to law enforcement officers working with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, inspectors seize about 600 to 1,000 native turtles a year at John F. Kennedy International Airport alone. The non-profit has a separate sanctuary in Ojai, California that hosts turtles rescued from places …