Wildlife returns to Yellowstone National Park. The difference between the weather and the climate is explained. And physicist Stephen Hawking makes a bold proposal for space exploration. It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly segment on science and Earth-related news! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Yellowstone National Park was founded in 1872 and ever since it's served a dual role as a tourist destination and refuge for American wildlife. Now, one and a half centuries later, Yellowstone is a model for rewilding. But now that the park's natural inhabitants have recovered, what's next. National Geographic reports.

Science fiction is sometimes used as an antonym for "science fact." But sci-fi movies and television don't have to be inaccurate—or at least not wildly so. Slate Magazine offers a look at the Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEE), which is helping Hollywood add more real science to modern productions.

"If global warming is real, why'd it snow yesterday?" For many, this observation seems like a natural flaw in the widely-supported consensus that our planet's climate is warning. But it also betrays a lack of understanding on the difference between weather and climate. So what is that difference?

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, often regarded as one of (if not the) smartest people on the planet recently announced he'd be teaming up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to build a fleet of interstellar spacecraft. If this a pie in the sky dream or can Hawking's plans actually take flight? Science and technology website Gizmodo looks at what Hawking's proposal could mean and how it might change our future.

When we talk about autism we're almost always speaking of boys and men. But although the stereotype of the austistic savant is masculine, women are affected by autism too. It's just that it's often misdiagnosed. Scientific American shines a light on the phenomenon of female autism.


Top image by Enescot