The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. We brought you some excellent top 10 lists this week on art, technology, director Errol Morris, and naughty celebs who should rethink their eco-lifestyles. Don’t forget to catch up with some of our other most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Bush’s War: PBS Frontline Brings the War to a Computer Near You

Inverted Areola, Asymmetrical Breasts, & the Miss Bimbo Game

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Nicole:

Where the Wild Things Are: Top 10 Art Blogs

Dark Water: Artist Explores Consequences of Three Gorges Dam Project

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Giulia:

A Pregnant Man?

Is the Lebron / Gisele Vogue Cover Racist?

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Gina:

Top 10 Technology Blogs

Errol Morris’ Top 10 Films

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Kerry:

Top 10 Celebrities Who Need a New Cause

Dead Bats Flying: Mysterious Fatal Illness Alarms Scientists

The bat problem’s gone from bad to worse since I wrote about it six weeks or so ago.  From today’s NY Times:

In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter.           

Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control.

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Move over, colony collapse disorder; the new mystery plague is “white nose syndrome.” Yes, I know it sounds like a disease involving celebrities and cocaine, but it’s actually attacking bats in New York and Vermont, where they’ve been dying in droves.  Researchers are calling it “the gravest threat in memory to bats in the U.S.,” according to the AP:

“This is definitely unprecedented,” said Lori Pruitt, an endangered-species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Ind. “The hugest concern at this point is that we do not know what it is.”     

A significant loss of bats is chilling in itself to wildlife experts. But ” like the mysterious mass die-offs around the country of bees that pollinate all sorts of vital fruits and vegetables ” the bat deaths could have economic implications. Bats feed on insects that can damage dozens of crops, including wheat and apples.”

Without large populations of bats, there would certainly be an impact on agriculture,” said Barbara French of Bat Conservation International of Austin, Texas.

You may not be crazy about bats, but I bet you’re even less fond of mosquitos. Fewer bats equals more bugs, and that could have devastating consequences for our own health, too.

Scientists are trying to figure out whether it’s a virus, a bacteria, or some toxin in the environment that’s killing the bats. The white fungus that appears on the dead bats’ noses has never been seen before, and may only be a symptom, not a cause. “Whatever it is,” the AP reports, “afflicted bats are burning through their winter stores of fat before hibernation ends in the spring, and appear to be starving.”   Learn why bats are beautiful and beneficial creatures at Bat Conservation International.