Medicine & TechnologyWhile tropical rainforests may be vanishing, a new study led by NASA researchers reveals yet another reason why trees in the tropical rainforest may in fact be man’s best friend.
With greenhouse gas emissions on a constant rise since the dawning of the industrial revolution and the subsequent population growth that followed, researchers in recent years have tried to estimate exactly how much carbon dioxide is actually absorbed by plants to better assess a serious global issue. And in a new NASA-led study, researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were able to combine three different divisions of science to reveal that tropical rainforests may be absorbing far more CO2 than many researchers previously thought, in response to rising atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas.
Knowing the waste associated with space exploration, the millions of dollars invested in early flight stages merely shelled off into space, private-sector rocket company SpaceX has decided to rework how the space exploration game is played. Developing reusable pieces, that if brought back with a spacecraft could be used on yet another mission, the company not only intends to change their role in the rocket industry, but the way our tax dollars are spent as well.
While the near full moon will interfere with the sights in the sky tonight, astronomers say that stargazers will still be able to see the first meteor shower of 2015 this weekend, with the arrival of the “Quadrantids".
Over the past Millenia, civilizations even before the age of written history, have fallen when faced with famine, disease and even war. But when the most advanced civilization in the world disappears without a reason, the mystery creates some unique speculations. For years now, researchers and archaeologists have sought out an answer to what happened to the Mesoamerican Mayan civilization, and while theories have run the gamut from mass suicide to disease and famine, researchers now believe that they have found the answer entombed in an underwater lagoon.
While their families and colleagues must undoubtedly think about them 24 hours a day, it seems that most residents of Earth never find themselves pondering what life must be like for the elite six astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) just outside our atmosphere. Orbiting the Earth in a giant space-bound laboratory, life can get pretty interesting. And something even as innocuous as the ball drop of a new year can turn into something entirely note-worthy.
Now, while conservation efforts have sought out to stop this practice that ruins tropical ecosystems, many have failed as national and international agencies refuse to step in unless something else causes a pressing concern. And in that hope, the forests of Indonesian island Sulawesi may soon find their deforestation coming to a close; all thanks to strange-breeding frog species.
While most amphibians, in fact nearly every species known to man, are parents that lay clutches of eggs, one new frog species revealed that they too are of the nurturing variety.
Ever wonder why they call space the “final frontier”? Well it isn’t because it’s the last place for us to explore or expand. As it so happens, space is often thought of as the final frontier because most of what leaves our Earth in search of exploration never comes back. In fact, it’s the reason why Mars One’s newest plans for colonization on Mars is only planning one-way trips. But what if we could reuse rockets and reclaim the several-million-dollar investments that our space agencies, and our tax dollars, invest each and every year? Perhaps we’d be able to go in search of far more things. And that’s what private-sector rocket company SpaceX hopes to achieve.
Well, they may not be the normal bar hoppers you’re likely to spot out on New Year’s Eve, but a new study shows that when zebra finches imbibe even just a bit, they won’t likely pass a sobriety test no matter how high their tolerance. Spiking the drinks of the small Darwinian subjects, researchers with the Oregon Health & Science University found that after drinking even small amounts of liquor the birds were less inclined to fly around but certainly slurred their songs and chirps with a distinct drunken vibe.
Pursuing the newest origin of the viral pathogen deep within the forests of West Africa, health officials believe that they may have found the source of the infection in a hollowed out tree. But the issue is far more complex than many would like to think.
While the viral pathogen continues to claim lives in West Africa, health officials believe that they may have now found the source of the infection, in a hollowed out tree. After making an expedition to patient zero’s—a two-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno—hometown in Meliandou, Guinea, researchers believe that they may have found the source of Ebola in a hollow tree the young boy may have played in, which also is home to a colony of bats.
As NASA contemplates sending man to Venus, to live in a floating civilization above the hostile burning surface, new research reveals that while current surface temperatures soar above a bone-ashing 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures may have once supported some sort of liquid on the surface—but you won’t be able to guess what it is.
After nearly a month of debates and testimonies arguing the legal rights of an unborn fetus, a three-judge panel of the Irish High Court ruled on Friday Dec. 26 that in the case of a pregnant mother being declared clinically dead, that doctors may choose to turn off life support, and in-effect terminate the pregnancy, if the fetus has little chance of survival.
First it’s the caramel apples, now it’s contaminated ice cream. Where will the CDC draw the line?
In a recent international outbreak of bacterial infection Listeria, health officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have investigated recent deaths and sourced the outbreak back to potentially bad batches of pre-made caramel apples sold in retail stores such as Safeway over the past few months. But now, as the holiday season is in full bloom and more cases are popping up day after day, CDC officials are finding other sources, as well, and are now putting a warning on ice cream potentially infected in some areas of the nation.
In a strange sequence of events, officials with Hawaii’s Department of Agriculture reported that an illegally transported Coconut Crab was found roaming down Honolulu’s Salt Lake Boulevard early this past weekend. And while the species may sound like a small an unassuming small beach crab, with claws strong enough to pierce through coconuts, the discovery of one on the island has researchers and department officials on edge from the possibilities of what may come.