The rabbitfoot mussel, found in both Missouri and Illinois, is now a candidate for the endangered species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday.

The mussel has only been identified in about 50 streams in 15 Midwestern states. One of…

America Recycles Day is Nov. 15 but there are quite a few events coming up this weekend aimed at promoting recycling, particularly electronics.

First up is an event this Saturday hosted by the cities of Balwin, Ellisville and WITS. Residents of St.…

People with longer toes and a unique ankle structure that allows for quicker acceleration make better sprinters, according to biomechanists.

Penn State scientists analyzed the feet of 12 collegiate sprinters and 12 non-athletes of similar heights. They measured the distance between the…

Patterson and his kill

PaThe legendary man-eating lions of Tsavo rumored to have killed more than 130 railroad workers in Africa more than a century ago likely only ate about 35 people, according to new research.

That’s nothing to sneeze at, but the…

File this under the “Who Knew?” category.

Turns out papayas come in three sexual varieties: male, female and hermaphrodite. And its the hermaphrodites that produce the flavorful fruit that’s often sold commercially and winds up in your fruit parfait.

From the grower’s…

Mark Templeton

Yesterday, EcoSpeak was forwarded an email from Department of Natural Resources Director Mark Templeton announcing the promotion of two long-time employees. What the memo didn’t say was that three other DNR employees were terminated that created the vacancies the…

Korean scientists have discovered that pumpkin skin contains a substance that inhibits growth of microbes that cause yeast infections in adults and children.

In the study, the scientists note how some disease-causing microbes are becoming resistant to antibiotics. As a result,…

At first blush this might seem a little off-topic for an EcoSpeak post, but it speaks to the inner math nerd inside.

A New Jersey mathematician has computed the probability of the Yankees and Phillies winning the world series as well…

Foresters with the Missouri Department of Conservation today confirmed that a shingle oak discovered by some University of Missouri-St. Louis students is the biggest of its kind in its state.

Now officially a Missouri State Champion Big Tree, the 114-foot-tall shingle…

Scientists from Switzerland believe glacial melting may be behind a mysterious increase in organic pollutants in Alpine lakes despite the decrease use of those compounds found in things like pesticides, paints and other products.

In a study scheduled for publication in…