About 5,400 years ago, a Patagonian cypress seedling sprouted in a valley in present-day Chile. Over the millennia, the colossus grew to 100 feet tall, with a trunk 13 feet in diameter, making it one of the largest in Alerce Costero National Park. Now, research reported by Science indicates the tree may also be the […]
Antarctica is the continent least visited by world travelers, and its frigid temperatures — with a daily interior average of minus 71 degrees Fahrenheit — make it uninhabitable for people long-term. Although the terrain isn’t suitable for humans, a delicate and complex ecosystem exists amid the ice, and now tourists who do make it to […]
With the fall equinox newly behind us, and as the evenings begin to grow longer, it’s an especially exciting time to turn your gaze toward the heavens. We’ve compiled a list of constellations, planets, and other celestial events to keep an eye out for in the October 2022 night sky, preferably while you’re wrapped up […]
There are some unexpected heroes among the brave firefighters who protect civilians, animals, and plants from wildfires. Wildfires have a pattern of sweeping across North America during the hot summer months between June and August, and 2022 has seen a 112% increase in the average number of acres burned by wildfires in the last 10 […]
Germany adopted its Energiewende (energy transition) approach, based on the Energiekonzept (“energy concept”) policy published in 2010, to increase its use of renewable energies and end reliance on nuclear power altogether. Despite the government’s acknowledgement that it would be a costly endeavor, it was highly supported by Germans — and it’s been successful. The town of […]
Laurent Ballesta has been exploring and documenting the underwater world for decades. Born and based in France, he’s the author of 13 books, a marine biologist, and a filmmaker, to name just a few of his titles. This week, he took home the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year portfolio prize for a […]
Scientists estimate there are at least 14 million metric tons of microplastics on the ocean floor, but these pollutants are everywhere — from the snow on Mount Everest to the bodies of honeybees. Due to their minuscule size, microplastics can also easily infiltrate the human body, and traces have been found in breast milk, blood, […]
Eggs have been a healthy breakfast staple for thousands of years. Even the Aztec emperor Montezuma is said to have eaten them with his morning summer meals, according to the BBC — though his weren’t from a chicken, but an insect, the Axayácatl fly. Ahuautle, also known as “Mexican caviar,” was considered a food of […]
Berlin, Germany, is transforming a disused airport into an über-modern, green metropolis. After the Tegel international airport saw its final plane take off in 2020, the 1,235-acre site sat unoccupied, and air traffic transferred over to the newer and nearby Berlin Brandenburg Airport. But the space wouldn’t be abandoned for long. By 2021, plans for […]
A team at Yale University took inspiration from turtles and tortoises to develop an innovative amphibious robot that can walk on land and swim — and could potentially help researchers monitor ocean ecosystems. Called ART, or Amphibious Robotic Turtle, it’s a shape-shifting robot with legs that can morph into flippers once introduced to water, a […]
Many people don’t think about their clothing being anything more than a fashion statement, uniform, or necessity — but the clothes you put on could one day power up some popular handheld products. Researchers at Nottingham Trent University have created a new type of fabric that can charge simple electronic devices via solar energy: an […]
From burdock burrs and Velcro to shark skin and airplane coatings, nature has inspired some of the world’s most interesting innovations. Now, an industrial designer has created a 3D-printed clay humidifier that absorbs and evaporates water without electricity, just like trees. Jiaming Liu crafted the eco-friendly Print Clay Humidifier as his master’s graduation project at […]