The next pandemic? It"s already here for Earth"s wildlife, says biologist
I am a conservation biologist who studies emerging infectious diseases. When people ask me what I think the next pandemic will be I often say that we are in the midst of one—it's just afflicting a great many species more than ours......»»
Mongolia"s wildlife at risk from overgrazing
The icy peaks of Jargalant Mountain are supposed to belong to snow leopards, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 1,000 in Mongolia, but hard-pressed herders are increasingly pushing into the vulnerable animals' traditional habitat......»»
World extends run of heat records for an 11th month in a row
April was the Earth's 11th consecutive month of record-breaking heat, with warmer weather already sweeping across Asia and a hotter-than-usual summer expected in Europe......»»
The big lesson from past pandemics? Avoid panic buying, says new research
COVID-19 upended almost every aspect of daily life, including consumer and retailer behavior. However, it was not the first pandemic that changed how we shop......»»
How do emotions help construct our cultural identity in music festivals?
2022 was a record year for music festivals in Spain, hitting historic highs just two years after the entire country was locked down due to the pandemic. Spain boasts close to a thousand music festivals and a live music industry that earned 459 millio.....»»
Geologists reveal mysterious and diverse volcanism in lunar Apollo Basin, Chang"e-6 landing site
The far side of the moon is a mysterious place that is never visible from the Earth. The most remarkable feature of the moon is its asymmetry between the lunar near side and far side in composition, crust thickness, and mare volcanism. Scientists hav.....»»
What can early Earth teach us about the search for life?
Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the search for life elsewhere. But the modern Earth can't serve as a basis for evaluating exoplanets and their potential to support life. Earth's atmosph.....»»
Listening to giants: The search for the elusive Antarctic blue whale
Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, measuring up to 30 meters long and weighing up to 200 tons—as much as a Boeing 787. Yet it's the sound they make, not their size, which gives their location away......»»
As business districts evolve post-pandemic, repurposing old or empty spaces should be on the drawing board
The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears of urban center "ghost towns" may have been premature, many cities around the worl.....»»
Compared to billions of years ago, Venus has almost no water: New study may reveal why
Planetary scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered how Venus, Earth's scalding and uninhabitable neighbor, became so dry......»»
DDT pollutants found in deep sea fish off LA coast raise questions about the pesticide"s continuing threat to wildlife
In the 1940s and 1950s, the ocean off the coast of Los Angeles was a dumping ground for the nation's largest manufacturer of the pesticide DDT—a chemical now known to harm humans and wildlife. Due to the stubborn chemistry of DDT and its toxic brea.....»»
Scientists" research answers big question about our system"s largest planet
New discoveries about Jupiter could lead to a better understanding of Earth's own space environment and influence a long-running scientific debate about the solar system's largest planet......»»
Sony backs down, won’t enforce PSN accounts for Helldivers 2 PC players on Steam
What will Sony do next for an audience that likes its games but not its network? Enlarge / Aiming a single rifle sight into an earth-moving explosion feels like some kind of metaphor for the Helldivers 2 delayed PSN requirement s.....»»
The US Is Cracking Down on Synthetic DNA
Synthetic DNA could be used to spark a pandemic. A move by President Biden aims to create new standards for the safety and security of mail-order genetic material......»»
Radio astronomers bypass disturbing Earth"s atmosphere with new calibration technique
An international team of researchers led by astronomers from Leiden University (Netherlands) has produced the first sharp radio maps of the universe at low frequencies. Thanks to a new calibration technique, they bypassed the disturbances of the Eart.....»»
Unraveling life"s origin: Five key breakthroughs from the past five years
There is still so much we don't understand about the origin of life on Earth......»»
Saturday Citations: Parrots on the internet; a map of human wakefulness; the most useless rare-earth element
We field a torrent of science news updates every week and on Saturday morning, we highlight three or four of them based on the observed preferences of a panel of dogs as shown by the Paired-Stimulus Preference Assessment, a standardized evaluation of.....»»
Boeing"s Starliner joins select club of crewed US spaceships
Throughout the annals of American space exploration, a select few spacecraft have had the distinction of carrying human beings beyond Earth......»»
Are carbon-capture models effective?
Reforestation efforts to restock depleted forests are important for addressing climate change and for both capturing and restoring carbon from the Earth's atmosphere. These types of solutions to mitigate carbon emissions are critical after 2023 prove.....»»
NASA is helping protect tigers, jaguars, and elephants—here"s how
As human populations grow, habitat loss threatens many creatures. Mapping wildlife habitat using satellites is a rapidly expanding area of ecology, and NASA satellites play a crucial role in these efforts. Tigers, jaguars, and elephants are a few of.....»»
Hungry, hungry white dwarfs: Solving the puzzle of stellar metal pollution
Dead stars known as white dwarfs, have a mass like the sun while being similar in size to Earth. They are common in our galaxy, as 97% of stars are white dwarfs. As stars reach the end of their lives, their cores collapse into the dense ball of a whi.....»»