Employees at the Friends for Life Animal Shelter in Houston, Texas have been encountering a unique problem for the past several months: the door to the shelter’s senior cat room kept mysteriously opening, allowing the cats inside to wander around the shelter. What was going on? Was it an inattentive worker, a ghost, or something...
Every now and then, the Internet “discovers” something you just sort of assumed everyone knew. Like, for example, that pufferfish inflate themselves with water and not air. It seems logical that people would assume that fish – which famously remain underwater when they are not dead – fill up with water when they inflate themselves. But apparently vast swathes...
If you’ve ever picked up a brick or a piece of wood that’s been lying in the dirt for a while, you’re probably familiar with the tiny critters with the hard black shell you found attached to the bottom of it. These humble little creatures that curl up into a ball when prodded may seem...
Macinley Butson was the first Australian to win first place at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair in nearly 68 years. She invented armor with the aim to protect patients from excess radiation during breast cancer. Her hard work payed off and her invention has great potential, with experimental models showing the armor reducing...
Recent research has unveiled a looming peril for the Atlantic Ocean—a subduction zone hiding beneath the Gibraltar Strait, set to work its way into the Atlantic Ocean.1 This subduction zone, known as the Gibraltar arc or trench, has been slowly but surely migrating west, starting around 30 million years ago in the Mediterranean. Seemingly dormant,...
If you love hiking, paddling, and being out in nature no matter the season, then look no further than the Great White North for your next adventure destination. Canada is home to the world’s longest hiking trail that traverses the entire country, and that trail is open for use. The World’s Longest Hiking Trail With...
In just a few months, the residents of Staten Island will have a new park to visit instead of a landfill wafting undesirable smells into their backyards. Fresh Kills Landfill has been transformed into a park three times the size of central park, and the results are stunning. Fresh Kills Landfill Greenspace Fresh Kills Landfill...
Though necessary for many of the products we use on a daily basis, traditional nickel mining is not very environmentally-friendly. This soil biologist has been working tirelessly since 2004 to find these special plants that naturally “mine” nickel to work on an alternative called phytomining. So far, the results are promising. (1) The Search for...
Squirrels are the cutest, and even more so when they look like one of our favorite animé characters – Pokémon! The Japanese dwarf flying squirrel, Pteromys momonga, is one of the cutest species of tiny squirrels in the world, native to Japan, and is endemic to the remote Islands of Honshu and Kyushu [1]. They...
Most people have heard of an eclipse taking place on April 8, 2024. Although an eclipse happens every 18 months or so, it’s rare that they’re visible for anyone not directly on the equator. Seeing as this one will be visible to numerous states in the U.S., officials have released a warning. Eclipse Warning Issued...
Petting zoos can be a really fun experience and creates long-lasting memories. However, there are certain animals that probably shouldn’t be petted. Especially big endangered cats. For 50-year-old, Dwight Turner, this became all too much of a reality for him. Located in Davie, very near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, resides in an animal sanctuary. On August...
In Thailand there is a rock formation that looks like a variety of things, depending on how you look at it. Some say it looks like a crashed spaceship, however, others say it looks like a family of blue whales. This is where Three Whale Rock gets its name. (1) Thailand’s Three Whale Rock In...
