Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Researchers from the University of Florida have uncovered the largest known nesting site for the threatened giant South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa). How did they find over 41,000 nesting reptiles? The turtles were found gathered along the Amazon's Guaporé River between Brazil and Bolivia. This innovative use of drones opens up new avenues for conservationists, as detailed in a study recently published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

At present, more African elephants are dying than being born. Over the last century, the world's elephant population has declined 97% from trophy hunters, ruthless ivory mercenaries, and even terrorist groups. The Wildlife Conservation Society has pointed out that the global ivory trade leads to the death of up to 35,000 elephants a year in Africa. It's easy to point a finger at China as the biggest market for poached ivory in the world, yet only five years ago more than a ton of confiscated ivory was crushed in New York's Times Square by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Every year, poachers kill about 27,000 African elephants--an astounding 8 percent of the population. If current trends continue, these magnificent animals could be gone within a decade. The solution, of course, is to stop poachers before they strike, but how to do that has long confounded authorities. In protected areas like wildlife preserves, elephants and other endangered animals may roam far and wide, while rangers can patrol only a small area at any time. "It's a two-part problem," explains Milind Tambe, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.