Science

Conservationists say five Hawaiian crows have been released on Maui for the first time as part of an ongoing effort to return the species to its home. Officials with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance say the ʻalalā were released on Maui on Tuesday.

Nov. 27 marks the two-year anniversary since Maunaloa, Earth’s largest active volcano, last erupted. A new study suggests that a mineral found in volcanic rock could be the key to unlocking this mystery. The Conversation talked to Kendra Lynn, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, about her experience during the eruption and her team’s research.

The Waiwhatu Project has created or expanded the definitions of six words in te reo Māori — the language of the Indigenous people of Aoteroa — to describe different geothermal processes. It's part of a larger effort to center Indigenous worldviews in the sciences. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote reports.

About two months before Maunaloa spewed lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other signals. Now a study of the volcano’s lava confirms that molten rock within Earth's crust was rising upward about 70 days before the eruption in late November 2022.

Five ʻalalā will soon be released into the wild from a temporary field aviary on the slopes of Haleakalā — the latest in the reintroduction efforts for the Hawaiian crow. They are considered extinct in the wild.

OceanIt has been awarded $4 million dollars to develop mini-organs, called organoids, to study our lymphatic system. The Conversation talked to OceanIt President and CEO Patrick Sullivan.

In case you missed it on The Conversation this week, we learned about the new University of Hawaiʻi president, a newly discovered plant species on Kauaʻi, the history of bees in Hawaiʻi and more.

The secret is out. For months, scientists have been trying to contain their joy because they suspected they had discovered a new plant species high up on the ridges of Kauaʻi's mountaintops. The Conversation talked to Ben Nyberg about the expedition.

The ability of invasive seaweed to adapt to ocean changes could be one reason why they outcompete native species, according to a new study by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers.

One of the great mysteries of Nan Madol in Pohnpei is what caused the downfall of the Saudeleur Dynasty hundreds of years ago. The Conversation talked with Chuan-Chou "River" Shen, a geoscientist at the National Taiwan University about the findings.