Category: News

  • Black Hole Bonanza

    A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. There are none to see nearby but their effects are massive when they are found. NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission has led to a bonanza of newfound supermassive black holes and extreme galaxies called hot DOGs, or…

  • Wild Fires and Heat Trapping

    When the Fourmile Canyon Fire erupted west of Boulder in 2010, smoke from the wildfire poured into parts of the city including a site housing scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Being scientists they then scrambled about to test what…

  • More Bad News for Young Smokers: Arterial Damage

    Teen smokers have thicker artery walls, indicating the early development of atherosclerosis, which is a chronic condition that remains asymptomatic for decades. Advanced atherosclerosis can lead to catastrophic events such as the slowing or stopping of blood flow, which then leads to the death of whatever body tissue that artery is feeding. If that artery…

  • Methane Making An Appearance In Pa. Water Supplies

    Mike and Nancy Leighton’s problems began on May 19, just as Mike was settling in to watch the Preakness Stakes. A neighbor in Leroy Township, Pa., called Mike and told him to check the water well located just outside his front door. Typically, there’s between 80 to 100 feet of headspace between the top of…

  • To Buy Green Or To Be Green?

    Whether to buy green or to act green is a common conundrum for the environmentally-friendly consumer. Should you buy a newer, more efficient appliance? Or would it be better to buy a used one? Or does it make the most sense to keep what you have? Which is more environmentally responsible?

  • Will Batman Celebrate International Bat Night?

    International Bat Night is happening this weekend, an event that hopes to inspire people across Europe to understand more about how bats live and why they are so important to conserve. A series of presentations, exhibitions and bat walks are happening in more than 30 countries, including the UK – check out the bat walk…

  • The Dwindling Arctic Ice

    The Arctic is a polar region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, the United States (Alaska), Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost. The blanket of sea ice…

  • ‘Torture Lab’ Kills Trees To Learn How To Save Them

    The droughts that have parched big regions of the country are killing forests. In the arid Southwest, the body count is especially high. Besides trying to keep wildfires from burning up these desiccated forests, there’s not much anyone can do. In fact, scientists are only now figuring out how drought affects trees. Park Williams studies…

  • Paternal Mutations

    Mutation is simply defined as “random changes in genetic material”. Without mutations and there would be very little change in species or evolution. Humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers, and mutation rates increase with the father’s age but not the mother’s, researchers have recently found…

  • Invasive brittle star could change appearance and ecology of Atlantic coral reefs

    For millions of years, sea stars have been among the most recognized oceanic organisms. People around the world have recognized their beauty and importance since ancient times. Finding one washed up on the shore or during a snorkeling expedition is even more exciting and chances are we will be seeing one species, the yellow brittle…