FREE THE ELEPHANTS: In response to growing public concern about their treatment of elephants, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus announced that they will permanently retire their remaining 11 elephants to their conservation center in Florida this May, a year and a half ahead of their original 2018 retirement date.

IN HOT (SALTY) WATER: Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan announced on Monday that he is asking for federal aid to help cope with the Flint water crisis. Since October, Flint citizens have been advised not to drink or brush their teeth with tap water because of a cost-saving decision in April 2014 to switch from using Detroit’s water supply to the saltier water of the Flint river, which caused old pipes to corrode and leached lead into the water system.

BATTERY BOOM: Good news hover-boarders—Stanford researchers announced Monday that they are using nanotechnology to develop a lithium-ion battery that WON’T catch fire. A thin polyethylene film that’s embedded with spiky nanoparticles of graphene-coated nickel responds to rising temperatures, allowing the battery to temporarily stop the flow of electricity before it overheats.

NOSEDIVING NUMBERS: Seabirds are washing up on Alaska’s shores--an estimated 8,000 common murres have been found along the Prince William Sound in emaciated condition. Warming seas and decreasing fish populations are suspected causes.

UNCOOL SHADE: Researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium announce that the presence of cloud cover plays a bigger role in climate change than previously thought. Clouds over the Greenland Ice Sheet are responsible for a 2 to 3 degree rise in the temperature of the ice sheet and accountable for 30 percent of the ice sheet melt.