Extreme Microbe Drinks Dew on Spiderwebs to Live

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  406 words  |  Trudie Dory

In the bone-dry desert, a truly remarkable, newfound microbial species manages to eke out a living drinking the meager moisture that condenses from the air onto spiderwebs. The extremophile species – so-called because it can survive in an extreme, harsh environment where most life would wither – was discovered recently in a cave in the Atacama Desert in Chile. This spot is so dry, the only water vapor in the air comes from a fog that rolls in from the distant coast overnight. [Read More]

Google Will End Its 'Evil' Partnership with the US Military, But Not Until 2019

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  364 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Following months of employee outrage and media scrutiny, Google has decided not to renew its contract to develop AI image recognition software for U.S. military drones, Gizmodo reported. On Friday (June 1), Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene told employees that the company would allow its controversial contract with the Department of Defense to expire in 2019 without seeking renewal, according to several Google employees who contacted Gizmodo. Earlier this year, an internal Google email leaked with news that the company had partnered with the Department of Defense on a surveillance program known as Project Maven. [Read More]

Hand sanitizers sold in beer cans and children's food pouches? Don't buy them, FDA says.

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  399 words  |  Patria Henriques

Some hand sanitizer products are being packaged in containers typically used for food and drinks, leading to concerns that people may accidentally ingest the products, according to health officials. On Thursday (Aug. 27), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers about these hand sanitizer products, which have been packaged in a variety of potentially misleading containers, including beer cans, water bottles, juice bottles, vodka bottles and children's food pouches, the agency said in a statement. [Read More]

Huge Philippines Volcano Blasts Ash 9 Miles Up As Satellites Watch (Video)

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  550 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines(opens in new tab) this week sent ash plumes 9 miles (14 kilometers) into the air, new satellite imagery shows.   Located on Luzon Island, the Taal volcano began to erupt around 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, Jan. 12 (4:30 a.m. EST, 0930 GMT), according to a statement(opens in new tab) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  Satellites operated by Japan, NASA and the NOAA captured views of the volcano from space(opens in new tab), revealing the widespread ash and smoke that spread across the island and surrounding areas in the aftermath of the eruption. [Read More]

My, What Big Teeth: Wolves Gallery

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  564 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A Common AncestorThe wolf, an ancestor of the domestic dog, is both a cherished and feared creature. There are many different subspecies of wolves, and in the U.S., the gray wolf, red wolf, Mexican wolf and Arctic wolf are all endangered. Gray WolfThe gray wolf (Canis lupus lycaon), also known as the timber wolf, is the largest wild member of the dog family. Found in parts of North America, gray wolves are making a comeback in the Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Southwestern United States. [Read More]

Photos: Notoriously Dangerous Ocean Reef Holds Shipwreck Secrets

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  657 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Buried no moreAn Australian expedition to a remote ocean reef notorious for sinking ships in the 19th century has discovered several previously unidentified wrecks at the site. The expedition to the Kenn Reefs atoll, located about 310 miles (500 kilometers) from the Queensland coast of Australia, aimed to search for the remains of shipwrecks reported by a maritime survey of the atoll that was conducted more than 30 years ago. [Read More]

Replica King Tut Tomb Unveiled in Egypt

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  523 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt went undisturbed for 3,000 years. But in the 90 years since its discovery, the ancient burial chamber has been ravaged by tourism. To prevent further damage and deterioration, conservationists hope a newly unveiled, life-size replica of the tomb will ease the flow of traffic to the original. To coincide with the public opening, BBC World News is set to air a 30-minute documentary on the mock tomb this weekend, titled " [Read More]

Scoreboard ranks states by social distancing. How is yours doing?

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  678 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Washington, D.C., tops the list of localities doing social distancing well, while Wyoming is lagging behind, according to a new coronavirus scorecard.  The score card, created by the mobility data company Unacast, uses comparisons in travel data from before and after U.S. coronavirus cases were detected. The data comes from location services on mobile devices. The travel distance reflects working from home, canceling vacations and reduced movement to nonessential activities, Unacast CEO Thomas Walle wrote in a blog post. [Read More]

Smashing Gold! Big Bang's 'Particle Soup' To Be Created in Lab

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  607 words  |  Trudie Dory

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 4:00 p.m. E.T. A new experiment that smashes gold nuclei at near light speed could mimic the particle soup created an instant after the Big Bang. The experiment, which will be carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, has just begun pumping liquid helium into 1,740 superconducting magnets to chill them to near absolute zero (minus 273 degrees Celsius, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit). [Read More]

These Things Don't Cause Cancer, But People Think They Do

 Posted on July 4, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  773 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Which of the following raises the risk for cancer: alcohol, genetically modified foods or stress? Only one is correct (it's alcohol), but according to a new survey from the United Kingdom, people have a hard time sorting out real cancer risk factors from fake ones. The survey asked more than 1,300 randomly selected people across the United Kingdom if certain things or behaviors caused cancer. The items included real, known risk factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, being infected by HPV and being overweight. [Read More]