Greenhouse Gas Pains: Shoot the Farting Camels?

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  552 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Australian officials are hoping to curb carbon emissions by killing off feral camels in the outback, but U.S. researchers say the cows are the country's main carbon-emitting animals, and lowering the camel population isn't enough. Northwest Carbon, a commercial company, suggested awarding carbon credits to individuals and companies in return for killing feral camels as a part of a larger carbon-curbing legislation called the "Carbon Farming Initiative," released today (June 9) and submitted to the Australian parliament's Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. [Read More]

How to Forge Art: Mark Landis Explains His Technique

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  466 words  |  Trudie Dory

For nearly 30 years, art forger Mark Landis has copied the work of other artists and then donated the pieces he produced to museums and art institutes. Over and over again, his forgeries were accepted, at least at first, as the real thing. Landis, a 57-year-old who lives in Laurel, Miss., has presented more than 100 forged works of art to at least 50 institutions in 20 U.S. states, estimates Matthew Leininger, co-curator of the exhibit " [Read More]

Most U.S. Money Laced With Cocaine

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  508 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds. A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas. U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination. [Read More]

New Weakness in Antarctic Ice Sheet Discovered

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  586 words  |  Fernande Dalal

A new sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is at risk of melting rapidly within the next century, new research finds. The study raises alarm about an area thought relatively safe from the direct influence of climate change. The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea is somewhat sheltered from the open sea, but the new research suggests that warm ocean currents could soon invade its underbelly, melting the shelf from below. [Read More]

Person who had measles 100 years ago helps scientists trace origins of virus

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1142 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A diseased human lung, fixed in the preservative formalin for more than 100 years, helped scientists trace the history of the measles virus and place its origin as far back as the sixth century B.C. For years, the lung sat in the basement of the Berlin Museum of Medical History along with hundreds of other lung specimens, all collected and preserved between the 1870s and 1930s. On a hunt for well-preserved respiratory pathogens, virologist Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer of the Robert Koch Institute and his research team descended into the basement and peered into each and every jar. [Read More]

Revealed: How Tibetans Survive Thin Air

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  665 words  |  Patria Henriques

If you moved to Tibet, you'd struggle with the altitude and might well get altitude sickness. A study published May 13 in the journal Science reported that Tibetans are genetically adapted to high altitude. Now a separate study pinpoints a particular site within the human genome — a genetic variant linked to low hemoglobin in the blood — that helps explain how Tibetans cope with low-oxygen conditions. The new study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on how Tibetans, who have lived at extreme elevation for more than 10,000 years, have evolved to differ from their low-altitude ancestors. [Read More]

Saint Patrick Wasn't Irish

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  241 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Saint Patrick's Day, the festival of green beer and shamrocks and the most well-known Irish holiday celebrates a saint who wasn't named Patrick and wasn't even Irish. In fact, he was held as a slave in Ireland before becoming a well-respected priest . The patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick is actually said to have been born in either Scotland or Wales during 386 A.D. Historians believe that he was born to a wealthy family and originally named Maewyn Succat. [Read More]

Scarlet, the Struggling Orca, Now Presumed Dead

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  542 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

After a remarkable month-long cooperative effort to save a young, ailing orca (Orcinus orca) named Scarlet, or J50, authorities now presume the animal is dead because she hasn't been spotted in more than two weeks, King 5 News reported.  Scarlet's death means the subpopulation of endangered southern resident killer whales now includes only 74 individuals, down from 98 individuals in 1995, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  [Read More]

Sphero RVR, the All-Terrain Programmable Coding Robot, Climbs To Black Friday Deal

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  498 words  |  Trudie Dory

Introduce your kid to the wonders of autonomous vehicles with the Sphero RVR, a programmable and drivable robot that is on sale for 18% less at Amazon(opens in new tab). For a fraction of the usual price, you can start driving the Sphero RVR right out of the box. Then it'll be up to your kid to take control for more advanced functionalities. With the help of the smartphone-ready Sphero Edu app, your child can get started with changing the robot's lights, playing with its sensors and using the accelerometer and gyroscope. [Read More]

Syria Bombing: How Do Tomahawk Missiles Work?

 Posted on February 27, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  879 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

This week, the United States fired 59 Tomahawk missiles to destroy a Syrian airbase in retaliation against the Assad regime's alleged use of chemical weapons against its people, according to the Department of Defense. The missiles, which were launched from ships in the Mediterranean Sea today local time (yesterday in the United States), were targeted at the al-Shayrat Air Base in Homs province, from which the Syrian military is suspected of deploying the planes that carried out the deadly nerve gas attacks this week. [Read More]