First articles of 2012 - Elephants, Vultures and Buildings

2012 is off to a great start -- aside from this persistent cough that's been plaguing me for the past three weeks. But coughing doesn't affect my typing ability, so there were still several new articles of mine published last week.

First up, both of this week's Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American covered elephants, a perpetually interesting topic. I'm always amazed that I'm still writing about the illegal trade in ivory more than 22 years since it was banned.

Poaching and Ivory Smuggling at Record Highs in 2011

Unchained: Indian Elephant Rehab Center to Be a Model for Rescued Zoo Animals

(That second article was also reprinted by the Huffington Post.)


Here's a weird news item for Mother Nature Network. My editor there always digs up the coolest things for me to write:

Hundreds of vultures invade Georgia neighborhood


Here's a brief "green living" blog post for Green Hands USA:

Which Big-Box Retailers Are the Greenest?

And finally, I have a new feature in the January 2012 issue of Lion magazine, the publication of Lions Clubs International. Inspired by my own Lions Club, I interviewed club members around the country (and around the world) who also own clubhouses to come up with some best practices for a non-profit maintaining their own building. The entire issue is online here.

Last articles of 2011

It's 2012, and I'm already deep into writing the first of my articles that will appear this year. But today you get one last list of links from articles I published in 2011.

Being a short week, there weren't many of them, but they were good ones. Here they are:

Lions vs. Cattle: Taste Aversion Could Solve African Predator Problem

'Poop to power' program turns pig manure into sustainable energy

'Cheetah' the chimp, Tarzan co-star, dead at age 80

PandaGate: BBC names a panda one of its 12 most interesting women of the year

I hope your New Year is off to a healthy and fun start and that good things are coming your way!

Post-Christmas article linkage

As my late Christmas present to you, here are eight new articles from last week.


First up, two new Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Bad News for Christmas: Frankincense Faces Uncertain Future

Caught on Video: Endangered Pygmy Hippo Seen Slipping through Nighttime Liberia


Next up, some interesting news items for Mother Nature Network:

Iowa town's pit bull ban forces veteran cop to give up his service dog

DNA of Genghis Khan's descendant sequenced in Inner Mongolia

Liquid metal capsules make self-healing electronics possible


And finally, three new "green living" blog posts for Green Hands USA:

How to Find the Greenest Restaurants in Your Area

Your Business Can Help Preserve Biodiversity

Outdoor Play Cuts ADHD Symptoms

This week will see me battling a nasty cold while writing several new features. I wonder what cold medicine will do to my prose? Stay tuned to find out!

Banning bullfrogs, breeding devils, saving money and a mystery

Last week's articles and blog posts ran the gamut from good news to bad news to the just plain weird.

First up, my latest articles about endangered species for Scientific American:

Should California Ban American Bullfrogs? [This was reprinted by the Huffington Post]

Sperm Bank and Reproductive Research Could Help Save Tasmanian Devils from Extinction [You can find all of my SciAm articles about the communicable cancer that has killed 70-90% of the world's Tasmanian devils in past 15 years here]


Mother Nature Network gave me two interesting stories this week:

'Like' this: Facebook and Greenpeace to collaborate on clean energy

Medical mystery robs voiceover artist of his voice, but finds magic pill in Ambien - [This was reprinted by Yahoo, who also put it on their front page.]

And finally, here are three new blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Hasbro Greens its Toy Packaging

Volkswagen Has World's Greenest Auto Plant

Taking Public Transportation Could Save You $816 a Month

There's lots more coming before the end of the year. What's that, time off for the holidays? Nah, not me!

Hellbenders, Angry Birds, How to Develop Apps, Mobile Learners and lots more

Nine new articles saw print last week. At this rate, I'd better ask for a new keyboard for Christmas.

Here are this week's links. First up, my usual two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Endangered Ozark Hellbender Salamanders Breed in Captivity for the First Time

Do PCBs Still Threaten Humans? A Turtle Study Suggests They Might

Also, last week's article on rare Hainan gibbons was reprinted by the Huffington Post


Mother Nature Network had three new Platt bylines this week. I particularly enjoyed this first one, but all were interesting to research and write:

iSchool Initiative inspires students to go paperless and become 'mobile learners'

Should New York City ban horse-drawn carriages?

Former missile complex to become 'mock city' for training first responders


I loved conducing the interviews for my latest Today's Engineer article, which looks at a growing technology career:

Career Focus: App Development


And finally, after some time off, the folks at Green Hands USA have started up again. Here are three short new articles for them:

Does Your Tuna Contain Mercury?

Save Green While Going Green: Try Leasing Solar Power

Angry Birds Helps Fight Bird Extinctions


That's it for now. More next week!

From the archives: 4

Another ad from the archives. I'm pretty sure this came out around the same time as the awful Fantastic Four movie. Luckily, it stands on its own.

Click the image to see it full-sized.

New articles: Rarest of the rare, dogs, sex symbols and graphic novels

I have about 187 new articles to write this coming week, so let's get right to last week's links:

First up, two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American, both about species on the razor's edge of extinction (one of which might already be gone):

Have You Seen This 'Extinct' Snake? Snapping a Photo of It Alive Could Be Worth $500

Illegal Deforestation Threatens the Last 23 Hainan Gibbons


Mother Nature Network kinda put me on the dog beat last week, with two good stories about dogs. I also got to write about actress Hedy Lamarr and her hidden history of invention. (CNN linked to that article and gave it a great push).

Military dogs suffer from PTSD

You can thank 1940s sex symbol Hedy Lamarr for today's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices

Bulldogs face health problems from reckless breeding


Finally, here are two new book reviews for Graphic Novel Reporter.

I Will Bite You! And Other Stories

Uncle Scrooge: Like a Hurricane

Next week's list will be about twice as long. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for the links as they happen!