Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun’s energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. Spring gets its official start Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in the Northern Hemisphere. On the equinoxes, the Earth’s axis and orbit line up so both hemispheres … Read more
Graphic on methane’s contribution to global warming, emissions by sector and increase in concentration in the atmosphere since 1984. Climate talks often revolve around reducing the most dangerous greenhouse gas CO2. But other powerful heat-trapping emissions—of methane—will be in the crosshairs at a global forum in Geneva this week. Methane—which is potent but relatively short-lived—is … Read more
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta provides food and livelihoods for tens of millions of people. Vietnam faces nearly $3 billion a year in crop losses as more saltwater seeps into arable land, state media reported Sunday, citing new research. The damage would likely center on the Mekong Delta region, known as “Vietnam’s rice bowl” because it provides … Read more
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Primatologist Frans de Waal, whose study of chimpanzees and apes helped reveal the reconciliatory and empathic nature of primates—including humans—has died at age 75, said the university where he worked for decades. De Waal, who won multiple awards over his long career, wrote several popular books and in 2007 made Time … Read more
Chicatana ants have a nutty, fatty flavor and are commonly consumed in parts of Mexico to add texture and flavor to dishes and sauces. Credit: Changqi Liu Insects are typically unwelcome visitors to a picnic, but they could be a flavorful, nutritious and sustainable addition to the menu. Eating insects is common in some parts … Read more
WASHINGTON — A new strategy to fight an extremely aggressive type of brain tumor showed promise in a pair of experiments with a handful of patients. Scientists took patients’ own immune cells and turned them into “living drugs” able to recognize and attack glioblastoma. In the first-step tests, those cells shrank tumors at least temporarily, … Read more
Air pockets inside pronghorn antelope hairs are smaller in summer (left) than in winter (right). Credit: Taylor Millett Unique adaptations allow wild animals to survive temperature extremes that would quickly kill an unprotected human. For example, certain animals can withstand bitterly cold weather, thanks to the insulating properties of the hollow hairs that make up … Read more
In a glass jar, a kombucha pellicle—the rubbery puck of cellulose that holds most of the bacteria and yeast culture—forms at the surface (top). With the silicone bags, however, the researchers noticed that the pellicle formed all the way around the inside (bottom). The increased surface area of the culture in the silicone bag may … Read more
Astronomers have spotted the oldest “dead” galaxy ever observed while studying the cosmos with the James Webb Space Telescope, and it’s one of the deepest views into the distant universe made with the observatory to date. The galaxy existed when the universe was only about 700 million years into its current age of about 13.8 … Read more
Credit: CC0 Public Domain “Dune,” widely considered one of the best sci-fi novels of all time, continues to influence how writers, artists and inventors envision the future. Of course, there are Denis Villeneuve’s visually stunning films, “Dune: Part One” (2021) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024). But Frank Herbert’s masterpiece also helped Afrofuturist novelist Octavia Butler … Read more
