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Why Even Brief Wildfire Smoke Exposure Worries Veterinarians

February 10, 2026 by Julie Majid

The danger does not end when the air clears.

When wildfire smoke drifts through a neighborhood, it often feels temporary, something to endure until the air shifts again. Dogs return indoors, windows close, and life resumes. But veterinarians say there is a gap between what clears and what lingers. In recent seasons, patterns have begun to surface that do not line up neatly with exposure time or visible distress.

What worries them is not the dogs that struggle right away, but the ones that seem unaffected. The question emerging now is whether a single afternoon in smoke can leave changes behind that only reveal themselves much later

Why More Than One Billion Marine Animals Have Vanished From the Pacific Northwest

February 10, 2026 by Julie Majid

A billion lives ended in days, and the coastline still bears the weight.

One unusually hot summer altered the Pacific Northwest coastline in ways that were not immediately visible. There was no single moment of collapse, no clear boundary between normal and wrong. Heat settled in and stayed. Tides continued their cycles. Along the shore, life followed familiar patterns until subtle failures began accumulating out of sight, in places few people monitor closely.

Only later did scientists recognize the scale of what had occurred. Entire communities of intertidal life had disappeared across wide areas and multiple species. As surveys expanded, the numbers kept growing. What initially seemed localized became something far larger, forcing researchers to confront how quickly coastal balance can unravel under extreme conditions.

A Dog Buried With a Viking Woman Is Rewriting a Small Piece of History

February 10, 2026 by Julie Majid

The arrangement was intentional, but the reason remains unclear.

When archaeologists exposed the outline of a Viking boat burial in Norway, one detail stood out immediately. A woman had been laid carefully at the center. At her feet, the remains of a dog, positioned with the same attention. The arrangement was precise, suggesting a shared purpose rather than coincidence.

Boat burials were reserved for significance, but the inclusion and placement of the dog complicates that meaning. Its position hints at roles that went beyond ritual habit, pointing toward ideas of loyalty, protection, or status that scholars are still working to interpret.

Tourist Files Lawsuit After Being Gored by a Bison

February 10, 2026 by Julie Majid

A violent encounter raises unanswered questions in New Mexico.

©Image license via PetsnPals/ChatGPT, Illustration of Bison Charging Tourist

A vacation in northern New Mexico ended in bloodshed, confusion, and now a courtroom battle. A tourist says she was seriously injured during what was presented as a routine, even charming, animal interaction at a rural property near Truchas. A lawsuit now alleges negligence, inadequate warnings, and preventable risk. What happened that day, who bears responsibility, and how the encounter unfolded are now matters of legal record. The facts emerge slowly, shaped by competing accounts, official filings, and mounting questions about safety where wildlife and tourism overlap.

Newly Sequenced Neanderthal DNA Just Rewrote Human History

February 10, 2026 by Julie Majid

Ancient genomes are forcing scientists to rethink origins.

Fragments of ancient DNA have been pulled from bones tens of thousands of years old, but something about this latest sequencing unsettled researchers. It did not arrive from a new cave or a dramatic fossil discovery. Instead, it emerged from improved techniques applied to remains already studied. The results introduced inconsistencies, timelines that no longer aligned, and genetic signals that refused to stay neatly separated. Who modern humans are, where we came from, and how isolated our ancestors truly were now feels less certain than it did just months ago.