Tag archives for Earth Current
Scientists Create “Nano-Suits” That Allow Bugs to Survive in A Vacuum
Posted by Alyson Foster on April 18, 2013 
Scientists at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine in Japan have come up with a special kind of spacesuit that can help keep insects alive in a vacuum. Unlike the gear astronauts wear, the nano-suit — as scientists are calling it — is more than 1,000 times thinner than a human hair and it’s made using electrons.
Posted by His name means “Hawk” in his language. Yet even with the acuity of vision the moniker suggests, Karapiru could not have foreseen thetragedy that befell his people, the Awá tribe of northeastern Brazil. He could never have imagined the day that he would flee for his life far into the rainforest, a shotgun pellet burning…
Like People, Bees Learn From Watching One Another
Posted by Alyson Foster on April 8, 2013 
Bumblebees may not have the large, highly-developed brains that certain other animals possess – us highly intelligent primates, for example – but they can perform surprisingly sophisticated tasks, like using logic and picking up cues from their fellow bees.
Scientists Link Urban Noise To Decline In City Songbirds
Posted by Alyson Foster on March 14, 2013 
It’s a fact: cities are loud. All that noise can have a deleterious effect on our lives, but humans aren’t the only ones negatively impacted by urban noise. Scientists have linked high levels of urban noise to a decline in songbird diversity.
Declining Forests In The Eastern United States As Seen From Space
Posted by Alyson Foster on March 7, 2013 
Forests in the eastern United States have become less green over the past decade. That’s what scientists at NASA have concluded after analyzing a series of satellite images compiled between 2000 and 2010.
Rock Hyrax Urine Offers Clues About Climate Change
Posted by Alyson Foster on February 20, 2013 
What can the rock hyrax – or, more specifically, the rock hyrax’s pee – tell us about climate change? More than you might think.
Help Astronomers Name Pluto’s Moons
Posted by Suzan Eaton on February 12, 2013 
P4 and P5? Surely you can come up with better names for Pluto’s newly-discovered moons. Astronomers at the SETI Institute are asking for your help.
Scientists Discover How Bacteria Changes Ions Into Gold
Posted by Alyson Foster on February 6, 2013 
Bacteria with the ability to change ions into solid gold? This scenario may sound like a biochemist’s version of a fairy tale, but it’s real and scientists at McMaster University have just figured out how the process works.
Urban Weather: How Cities May Be Changing the Climate
Posted by Alyson Foster on January 30, 2013 
Air pollution. Light pollution. Radical changes to local ecosystems. The profound environmental impact of cities is a popular topic among scientists these days. Now it appears that cities may actually be changing the weather — and the effects are being felt not just in urban areas, but in places thousands of miles away from major metropolises.
Why Hot Chocolate Looks Better in an Orange Cup
Posted by Suzan Eaton on January 10, 2013 
What’s the trick to making a truly satisfying hot chocolate? It may be less about the ingredients you use and more about which mug you use to drink it.
Is Facebook Better Than Sex? Opinions Differ.
Posted by Michael Jourdan on November 28, 2012 
It’s a battle of the surveys, as one finds that Facebook and email are more irresistible than sex, while another asserts that sex offers far more happiness and pleasure than online pursuits.
Hanging in the Rainforest Not as Fun as It Used to Be? It Might Be a Midlife Crisis.
Posted by Michael Jourdan on November 21, 2012 
When people begin to worry about their mortality, they might fight the blues by buying a fancy sports car, having an affair, or even getting a toupee. But, what is a great ape to do?
Cool Math 101: Physicists Use Fluid Dynamics To Study Penguin Huddles
Posted by Alyson Foster on November 19, 2012 
What do the members of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics discuss during their annual meetings? Math, usually. Lots of math. But this week they’ll also be talking about something a little different: penguins.
After Sandy: Unusual Bird Sightings
Posted by Suzan Eaton on November 12, 2012 
Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, East Coast residents have been seeing a number of unusual guests at their bird feeders during the last two weeks. The hurricane disrupted migration routes for some birds, and others simply got blown off course by the violent winds. Factor in the winter storm, the two weather events have brought together a very peculiar group of birds.
Old Volcanic Ash Causes New Problems for Alaskans
Posted by Suzan Eaton on November 5, 2012 
Residents on Alaska’s Kodiak Island were haunted last week — not by Halloween ghosts, but by the remnants of a long-ago volcanic eruption. Ash dating back to the 1912 eruption of Novarupta was stirred up by strong winds and dry conditions along the Alaskan coast. The ash rose as high as 4,000 feet and prompted aviation warnings. People said it looked like smog.
Innocent Until Proven Pretty
Posted by Michael Jourdan on October 12, 2012 
A study finds that beautiful women are more likely to be viewed as guilty in cases involving the murder of abusive partners.
A New Trick Discovered in Spiders’ Webs
Posted by Alyson Foster on October 4, 2012 
If you’re like most people you probably find cobwebs to be a nuisance. But it turns out that these messy webs are actually small feats of engineering. Polymer scientists at the University of Akron have discovered that the common house spider can tailor the type of adhesive discs it uses to anchor its webs, making them stronger or weaker depending on where the cobwebs are positioned and the movements of its prey.
Cloud Enthusiasts Lobby for Recognition of New Cloud Type
Posted by Suzan Eaton on September 24, 2012 
Oh, to be counted among the nimbus and the stratus! That’s what the fans of the undulatus aspertus want. The undulatus cloud, which resembles agitated waves, was first discovered in 1951, but has not yet been declared an official cloud type. Now members of the Cloud Appreciation Society are developing an app that they hope will help their beloved cloud the earn the recognition it deserves.
Killer Whale Moms and Menopause
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 20, 2012 
Despite their fearsome moniker, it turns out that male killer whales are mama’s boys who have a hard time surviving on their own. Scientists think that’s one of the reasons the female of the species go through an unusually long menopause.
Scientists Discover New Super-Magnetic Star
Posted by Alyson Foster on September 18, 2012 
A newly discovered star with an extremely strong magnetic field has caught the attention of scientists. Located about 20,000 light-years from Earth, NGC1624-2 is the most magnetic massive star discovered by astronomers to date.
Hurricane Leaves Thousands of Dead Rats on Mississippi Beaches
Posted by Suzan Eaton on September 10, 2012 Houses and buildings weren’t the only things damaged by last month’s hurricane. One of the Gulf Coast’s most notorious invasive species got slammed by Isaac. Almost 20,000 nutria, or copyu, were drowned and washed up on the Mississippi coast following the storm.
Smokers Have More Friends…and They’ll Need Them
Posted by Michael Jourdan on September 6, 2012 
Despite years of anti-smoking campaigns featuring everything from catchy slogans to graphic photos of diseased lungs, public health officials have been unable to dispel the notion that lighting up is something the cool kids do.
Flying Into A Hurricane — A Bird’s Perspective
Posted by Suzan Eaton on August 29, 2012 
Why would a bird fly into a hurricane? It seems that some migratory birds fly in so they can be slingshot out the other side.
“Hiram Bingham, Please Pick Up a White Paging Telephone . . . “
Posted by Alyson Foster on August 23, 2012 
A new airport will soon be in the works in Chinchero, Peru. The plan is part of an effort to boost tourism to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, according to Peru’s President Ollanta Humala. But questions have been raised about how much more traffic the ruins can accommodate.
Hottest Rain on Record?
Posted by Suzan Eaton on August 21, 2012 
Usually it doesn’t rain when the temperature gets over 100°. But last week in Needles, California a thunderstorm rolled in on a hot afternoon (115°). Most of the rain didn’t get to the ground, but it briefly made the area feel like a sauna.
