Happy Thanksgiving! In celebration of the American holiday we've gathered a couple stories about Thanksgiving specifically for Earthy Thursday, alongside our usual stories of science and environmentalism. We hope you enjoy!

It's pretty well known that the universe is generally hostile to life. But what you may not know is that it could easily be much more deadly than it is. In remembrance of that fact, Scientific American has a couple rules of nature you should be thankful for... and without which you wouldn't exist.

Parasites that can control the mind? It may sound like a bizarre horror story, but in fact mind-altering parasite are a fact of life. Discover covers some of the more common varieties known to science along with what they do to the brain.

The wildfires in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries may be dying down but their effects are still reason for concern. The wildfires affected large swathes of the natural habitat of several endangered species, such as the orangutan.

Speaking of the wildfires, astronomer Phil Plait also covered them during their height. On his blog at Slate you can see photos of the fires from space, detailing their extent and environmental impact in a way surface photos cannot.

And lastly it wouldn't be a traditional Thanksgiving without a turkey dinner. But what kind of turkey? Taking a look at an older variety of the species, Grist explains what's so special about wild turkeys.


Top image by Kevin Cole