Mystery Radar Blob Reveals Odd Man-Made Phenomenon

 Posted on October 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  519 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

On June 4, meteorologists in Huntsville, Ala., noticed a "blob" on their radar screen that looked like a strong thunderstorm, despite the fact the sun was shining and not a drop of rain could be found within a few hundred miles. After some sleuthing, and several wacky explanations, the scientists have identified the culprit. "Our operational meteorologist spotted it on radar immediately and initially thought he was caught off-guard by a pop-up thunderstorm that wasn't in the forecast," [Read More]

Oil Drilling: Risks and Rewards

 Posted on October 27, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1250 words  |  Patria Henriques

With gas prices skyrocketing and President Bush and other politicians calling to lift a ban against offshore drilling, a polarized debate has again flared up over the true risks and rewards of this approach to oil prospecting. "There are extremes on both sides," said Judy Penniman of the American Petroleum Institute. A federal ban was initiated by Congress in 1981 to protect sites off California and Massachusetts and has been repeatedly expanded since then. [Read More]

Scientists: Haiti's Wildlife Faces Mass Extinction

 Posted on October 27, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  731 words  |  Patria Henriques

Haiti may be headed for a massive extinction event, one comparable to the sudden disappearance of dinosaurs, a group of biologists from Penn State warns. The group is currently taking action to prevent this loss. Blair Hedges, one of the researchers, has announced the creation of a species-rescue program for Haiti's threatened frogs and other species. "During the next few decades, many Haitian species of plants and animals will become extinct because the forests where they live, which originally covered the entire country, are nearly gone," [Read More]

The 'Blood Rain' in Siberia Was Probably Caused by a Bunch of Industrial Garbage

 Posted on October 27, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  562 words  |  Trudie Dory

(opens in new tab) A photo posted by on Siberia: It's Russia's largest and arguably weirdest geographic region. It is a place where bricks of gold drop from the sky and severed human hands sprout out of the snow like turnips. And sometimes, it also seems to rain blood there. That's what some locals thought on Tuesday (July 3) when a crimson-colored downpour spilled over a parking lot in the industrial town of Norilsk. [Read More]

You May Not Recognize Yourself in 10 Years

 Posted on October 27, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  899 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Think you'll be the same person in 10 years that you are today? Think again. Most people realize they've changed in the past, but few expect to change in the future, a new study finds. Instead, while acknowledging that their tastes, values and even personality have varied over the past decade, people tend to insist the person they are today is the person they will be in 10 years — a belief belied by the evidence, said study researcher Daniel Gilbert, a psychologist at Harvard University. [Read More]

'Superlens' Sets New Limits on What You Can See Under a Microscope

 Posted on October 26, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  478 words  |  Patria Henriques

A new "superlens" is so powerful that it could help researchers zero in on germs that were too small for microscopes to spot until now, according to a new study. For centuries, microscopes have helped scientists make major discoveries, such as proving the existence of microbes. However, the physical laws governing light restrict conventional lenses in an important way: They can only focus on items that are no smaller than half the wavelength of the light that is used to see these objects. [Read More]

Ambien, Other Sleep Aids Get FDA's 'Black Box' Label, Its Strongest Warning

 Posted on October 26, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  410 words  |  Trudie Dory

The change follows the FDA's evaluation of reports describing "rare but serious" incidents that occurred when users of these medications experienced complex sleep behaviors: sleepwalking, sleep driving "and engaging in other activities while not fully awake," FDA representatives wrote yesterday (April 30) in a drug safety announcement. A prominent boxed warning will now appear on patient medication guides and prescription information for insomnia drugs such as Ambien (generic name zolpidem), Sonata (generic name zaleplon), Lunesta (generic name eszopiclone) and others, according to the announcement. [Read More]

Chinese Space Station Tiangong-2 Destroyed in Fiery Re-Entry Over Pacific Ocean

 Posted on October 26, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  254 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A Chinese space station fell out of the sky today (July 19), according to Agence France-Presse. But unlike the last time this happened, China was in control the whole time. The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) said in an earlier statement that Tiangong-2, the country's second experimental station, would "leave orbit and re-enter the atmosphere." At 34 feet (10 meters) long and 19,000 lbs. (8,600 kilograms), the orbiter was a bit larger than a northern bottlenose whale — though the station's solar panels made it a bit of an odd-looking whale, with a 60-foot (18 m) wing span. [Read More]

Crazy! Spider Launches Slingshot Web to Snag Prey (Video)

 Posted on October 26, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  470 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A new video has captured the remarkable tactic a tiny spider uses to catch insects: It uses its web as a slingshot to fling itself and the web at unsuspecting prey. The video of the bizarre Amazonian spider was posted to YouTube on Jan. 8 and has garnered more than 250,000 views so far. Georgia Institute of Technology graduate student Troy Alexander first noticed the unusual spider acrobatics at the Tambopata Research Center, an Amazon jungle lodge in Peru. [Read More]

Domestic Violence Often Triggered by Jealousy

 Posted on October 26, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  356 words  |  Patria Henriques

Episodes of domestic violence are often triggered by sexual jealousy and accusations of infidelity, according to researchers who analyzed jailhouse calls between abusers and their victims. Researchers at Ohio State University listened to the phone conversations between 17 heterosexual couples, in which the man was locked up in a Washington state facility for felony-level domestic violence. The victims had suffered serious injuries during the attacks, including head trauma, bite wounds, strangulation and, in two cases, lost pregnancy, the researchers said. [Read More]