Every summer, well-meaning people hang out balls of dryer lint, yarn, and pet fur for the birds. Most of it does more harm than good.
Dryer lint feels perfect, but it isn't. It crumbles the first time it rains and leaves holes in the nest, and it carries detergent residue and microplastics.
Yarn, string, and long hair can be worse: they wrap around a nestling's leg or wing as it grows and slowly cut off circulation, and wildlife rehabbers see the results every year.
Pet fur seems like the safe, natural choice, and it's the one I'd skip hardest. A 2025 UK study found that 100% of the animal fur lining the nests of two common songbirds contained insecticides from flea and tick treatments, and the higher the dose, the worse the chicks did. The soft lining was poisoning the brood.
Here's the good news: The best nesting material is a slightly messy yard, and it's free. Leave the twigs, dead leaves, and dried grass where they fall. Let plants stand so the seed fluff and stems are there for the taking. Leave a small patch of bare mud for the robins.
Birds were building nests for millions of years before the craft-supply aisle existed. Give them a wild corner and get out of the way.
“When people understand that Flock data can be used to track them exercising reproductive freedom or to facilitate federal immigration enforcement, the calculus around ‘public safety’ technology changes entirely,” EFF’s @tsnvaa told @ArsTechnica. https://t.co/gFIEr7KUBr
Driving on three wheels? No problem. Changing a tire without a jack? Also no problem.
With its hydraulic suspension, the Citroën DS could lift itself at the flip of a lever — space-age tech back in 1955.
[📹 classic_car_glo]
1933: William F. Friedman filed a patent for a "cryptographic system". The patent (U.S. Patent 6,097,812) was finally issued 24,479 days later (year 2000) - one of the longest known suppressed patent applications. He died 31 years before it was issued.
Imagine we lived in a world where people know what a yield sign was and what to do at them, as well as, what a zipper merge is??? That would be absolutely insane.
In 1971, engineers from the Soviet Union ignited a fire in a gas-filled hole in the Turkmenistan desert.
Anticipating that the flames would extinguish within days, they were surprised when the fire continued to burn.
Now, 52 years later, this site, known as “The Door to Hell,” is still ablaze.
Today Nothing did something truly wild, and game me an exclusive look at it. So for this video I break down what it is (an app) what it does (iMessage for Android) and what Apple might do when they see this 👀
2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT4 | Price: $299,900
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This vehicle is specifically designed for GT4 racing & is equipped with a range of features that make it capable of competing at the highest level. Under the hood, it is powered by a 4.0L V8 biTurbo engine that produces up to 536HP!