EXPLORE | BREAKTHROUGHS
PHOTOS (FROM TOP): REBECCA HALE, NGM STAFF; SEAN VILJOEN; WHITESIDES LAB, HARVARD UNIVERSITYA sparkling way to cut microplastics
All that glitters is not green: Most
glitters are plastic based and take
hundreds of years to break down. Enter
Bioglitter, created with cellulose from
eucalyptus trees. In nature, the glitter
biodegrades into harmless specks, says
the U.K. firm that makes it. —ANNIE ROTHTEXAS HOUNDS ARE REVOLUTIONIZING anti-poaching work in South
Africa. By some estimates, 4,000 rhinos were killed in the Kruger
National Park area during the past decade; how many remain
there is debated, with claims ranging from 5,000 to 9,000. Since
May 2018, the hounds, raised by Texas rancher Joe Braman, have
contributed to a 24 percent drop in rhino poaching in the park and
a 54 percent increase in apprehensions of poachers, authorities say.
In the past, law enforcement teams that used individual lead
dogs to track poachers on foot struggled to keep up. Staff at the
Southern African Wildlife College, a training facility outside Kru-
ger, were eager to test free-running dogs in the area. After visiting,
Braman, a passionate houndman and part-time cop, offered to
train a team of his own dogs back in Texas and ship them to South
Africa. In live operations, the hounds, wearing GPS collars, track
a poacher’s scent, with helicopters and rangers close behind. By
charging and biting en masse, the dogs keep their quarry at bay,
Braman says: “If a dog starts attacking you, the first thing you’re
gonna do is throw the gun and climb a tree.” —PAUL STEYNWILDLIFE PROTECTIONSNIFFING OUT POACHERS
TEXAS FREE-RUNNING PACK HOUNDS JOIN SOUTH
AFRICA’S EFFORT TO STOP WILDLIFE PLUNDERINGDISPATCHES
FROM THE FRONT LINES
OF SCIENCE
AND INNOVATIONMEDICAL SCIENCEA lab the
size and cost
of a stamp
Diagnosing
patients’ ills often
means sending
samples to testing
laboratories. For
areas that lack such
resources, Harvard’s
George Whitesides
has spent years
developing a “lab”
on a stamp-size
filter paper square.
When this low-cost,
easy-to-use device
absorbs a drop of
blood or urine, dots
of chemical reagent
change color to
indicate various
conditions, such
as an abundance
of protein. —ARLearn more about plastic waste and take the
pledge to reduce it at natgeo.com/plasticpledge.Hounds tree a
trainer during
a practice run
near Kruger
National Park.