Image Gallery: Striking Photos of Locust Swarms
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 2 minutes
| 258 words
| Trudie Dory
Moving swarmsA few small swarms moved across the northern Sinai Peninsula during the first week of March 2013.
Northeast travelLocusts can move to NE Egypt, Sinai and Israel on March 3-4, 2013.
The 8th Plague?Swarms of the desert locust, known as Schistocerca gregaria, were considered the eighth plague sent into ancient Egypt as a punishment for suppressing the Jews, according to the bible. Here a desert locust swarm in Israel in 2004.
[Read More]Physicists trap ultracold plasma in a magnetic bottle for the 1st time
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 683 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Capturing lightning in a bottle is the very definition of a tough task, but now physicists have found a way to contain ultracold plasma in a magnetic bottle trap, a breakthrough that could bring physicists one step closer to understanding solar winds and achieving nuclear fusion.
Plasma is one of the four states of matter, consisting of positive ions and negative free electrons. But unlike solids, liquids and gases, its tendency to occur in only the most extreme places, such as in the streak of ionized air we call a lightning bolt, in the dancing pattern of the aurora borealis, or on the surface of the sun, makes it extremely difficult to study.
[Read More]Scientific Evidence: Guinness Tastes Better in Ireland
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 4 minutes
| 658 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
Untold millions of pints of Guinness Draught will be consumed around the world today (March 17), but none of those will taste as good as those downed in Ireland. That Guinness tastes better in its home country is a long-held claim (and tourism slogan), but now there is science or close enough to it to support the legend.
The findings, which were published in the March 6 issue of the Journal of Food Science, come from the substantial efforts of a four-man team of international scientists.
[Read More]Still 'Drinkable': 200-Year-Old Booze Found in Shipwreck
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 529 words
| Patria Henriques
A 200-year-old stoneware seltzer bottle that was recently recovered from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea contains alcohol, according to the results of a preliminary analysis.
Researchers discovered the well-preserved and sealed bottle in June, while exploring the so-called F53.31 shipwreck in Gdańsk Bay, close to the Polish coast. Preliminary laboratory tests have now shown the bottle contains a 14-percent alcohol distillate, which may be vodka or a type of gin called jenever, most likely diluted with water.
[Read More]Stinky Kudzu Bug Invades South
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 559 words
| Trudie Dory
As if kudzu, the invasive "vine that ate the South," weren't trouble enough, one of its little friends from Asia has joined it in the United States.
The kudzu bug, known formally as Megacopta cribraria, is a type of stinkbug that feeds the kudzu vine in its native Asia. While the invading vine is its favorite meal, the bug also attacks soybeans, and as it spreads from Georgia to neighboring states, there are fears it will broaden its palate and target other legume crops, including peanuts.
[Read More]Swimovate PoolMate Live Review: Swim Tracker
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 10 minutes
| 2025 words
| Fernande Dalal
The PoolMate Live from Swimovate is a waterproof wearable device that tracks the number of laps you swim in the pool and your strokes per lap. It also calculates calories burned, speed and the efficiency of your workout. You can use the PoolMate Live the same way you'd use a stopwatch to track every part of a swim — from a long warm-up to a set of sprints — but unlike most stopwatches, this swim tracker will record and store detailed information about your time at the pool.
[Read More]Teen Dies from Toxic Shock Syndrome. Why Is It Linked to Tampons?
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 599 words
| Fernande Dalal
A Canadian teenager who died on a school field trip was found to have toxic shock syndrome that appears to have stemmed from tampon use, according to news reports. But what is toxic shock syndrome, and why is it linked to tampons?
The 16-year-old was on an overnight class trip with her classmates to Hornby Island (near Vancouver Island) in March 2017, when she said she wasn't feeling well and was having cramps, according to local news outlet Comox Valley Record.
[Read More]The Carnivorous Plant Named 'Turtle Socks' Has Been Eating Baby Salamanders for Lunch
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 616 words
| Trudie Dory
In the bogs of Ontario, Canada, certain plants have developed a taste for amphibians.
The northern pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) is a type of carnivorous flora well-known for chowing down on hundreds of different species of insects. Now, according to a study published June 5 in the journal Ecology, scientists have found that about 1 in 5 pitcher plants in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park have also made a habit of capturing, killing and digesting juvenile salamanders, too.
[Read More]Underwater Gallery: Diving Spiders
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 1 minutes
| 149 words
| Trudie Dory
Head CaseThe air-bubble chamber can be small and fit just the spider's abdomen (shown here) with its legs and thorax hanging out, or it can enclose the entire animal.
Underwater SpiderA diving bell spider, Argyroneta aquatica, shown here on underwater vegetation.
Gotcha!A diving bell spider has snagged a water flea and is consuming the prey inside the air-bubble chamber.
Arachnid MamaA female diving bell spider maintains her egg coccoon within the air chamber she has created within a silken web.
[Read More]What It's Like to Spend a Month Under the Sea
Posted on November 17, 2022
| 3 minutes
| 617 words
| Trudie Dory
NEW YORK — As his record-breaking 31-day mission underwater drew to a close, Fabien Cousteau was in no rush to go topside.
"I felt like I could stay down another month," Cousteau said. "As a matter of fact, I was almost panicking coming up."
Cousteau, 47, belongs to a "watery family." He's the grandson of the late Jacques Cousteau — perhaps the most famous ocean explorer of the 20th century — and earlier this year, he led the longest-ever expedition at the Aquarius Reef Base, a seafloor laboratory located off the coast of Florida.
[Read More]