Using a small lava cove as trap, a small number of bulls have learned to round up pelagic yellowfin tuna, driving them into shallow nooks, where the exhausted fish often leap ashore in a last ditch attempt to escape. The oldest bull eats his fill after dispatching the prey with bites to nape and throat, […]

The richest countries use as much as 16 times more antibiotics, like Amoxicillin, than poor countries. (Credit: PureRadiancePhoto) The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new report Monday that finds large disparities in antibiotic consumption worldwide. Consumption rates documented in the report vary by as much as 16 times between countries. The discovery suggests some […]

The Milky Way is shown on a collision course with a smaller galaxy in this simulation. (Credit: Koppelman, Villalobos; Helmi, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, The Netherlands) There’s a “dark matter hurricane” blowing through our corner of the Milky Way galaxy. Right this second, it’s passing over Earth. And this fast-moving stream could reveal […]

As part of the PK-4 experiment, tiny spherical particles are suspended in a low-temperature plasma (purple) so researchers can monitor have they behave in a charged microgravity environment. (Credit:Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics/M. Kretschmer) Dust is omnipresent throughout homes and offices around the world. But now, scientists are intentionally bringing the mildly inconvenient nuisance […]

A researcher makes the case that all infectious diseases are seasonal. (Credit: Dirima/Shutterstock.com) (Inside Science) — During the height of the polio epidemic in the U.S. in the 1940s and ’50s, parents often kept their children away from swimming pools, concerned that the disease, which peaked in the summer, was frequently spread through the water. […]

Our planet teems with life. But are we a fluke, or an inevitability? Credit: ESA Humans have often looked at the night sky and wondered if there’s anyone else out there. But stare into that darkness long enough, and many wonder instead: how did we get here? What were the odds, in a universe so […]

SciStarter offers something for anyone who is curious or concerned about the natural world. In this edition, we highlight Fall projects the Girl Scouts are doing all across the nation. But anyone can participate in these projects! Girl Scouts USA and SciStarter have joined forces on the “Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey” featuring a handful of curated projects (some […]

Data from the Landsat 8 satellite were used to create this image of the Camp Fire in Northern California on November 8, 2018, around 10:45 a.m. local time. (Source: NASA Earth Observatory) In all the many years that I’ve covered wildfire, I don’t believe I’ve encountered anything like what we’ve seen with the Camp Fire blazing in […]

This new, developing device works to both heat and cool the area around it without fossil fuels. (Credit: Linda Cicero, Stanford News) As people search for solutions to the climate change crisis on Earth, scientists are working to create renewable energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels. Now, scientists at Stanford University hope to offer […]

omNew research aims to resolve the mystery of how Earth’s global ocean formed. (Credit: NASA) Forming an Ocean When you look out at the ocean, it’s difficult to imagine the swaying body of water being any other way. But, says a team of researchers, some of the H2O that covers much of our planet’s surface […]

(Credit: khlungcenter/Shutterstock) It’s one of the cardinal rules of shipping something fragile: The more tightly you pack your cargo, the better its chances of reaching its destination in one piece. It turns out, the same rule applies for mailing mosquitoes, according to a new study in the Journal of Insect Science. While your average Joe […]

A new study finds that an imbalance between one’s circadian rhythm and eating and sleeping habits may contribute to weight gain. (Credit: Pakula Piotr/Shutterstock) Our weight might not be controlled solely by what we eat. When we eat, and when we get to sleep, may be just as important. A small study published this week in Current […]

Solar flares captured on sun. (Credit: NASA/SDO) On Aug. 4, 1972, the crew of a U.S. Task Force 77 aircraft flying near a naval minefield in the waters off Hon La observed 20 to 25 explosions over about 30 seconds. They also witnessed an additional 25 to 30 mud spots in the waters nearby. Destructor […]

Mid-September in Maine is a time when there is some relief from hot days, but there is no real sign of the leaves changing color just yet. On a beautiful Saturday morning in Brunswick (a small mid-coast town known for Bowdoin College), the Curtis Memorial Library held its annual How-To Festival, which brings together local businesses, organizations, and […]