Meet the Beetles: Stunning Museum Specimens from London
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 495 words
| Arica Deslauriers
Beetle-maniaIn the Natural History Museum in London, approximately 10 million specimens make up their collection of Coleoptera — the taxonomic order that includes all beetle species.
About 2,000 to 3,000 new specimens are added each year, and the collection spans over three centuries, with 195,000 species represented. Many of the individual specimens in the collection date to the 19th century, and were used to describe and name their species.
[Read More]New NASA Map Reveals US Wildfire Pollution
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 258 words
| Trudie Dory
Besides torching forests and houses, wildfires throughout the United States are also releasing a lot of smoke and particulate matter into the air.
A map created using data from a NASA satellite shows the location and amount of pollution wildfires raging across the West have spewed into the skies above the United States.
The new map shows relative levels of tiny particles called aerosols, which have an important impact on weather and climate and are unsafe to breathe at certain concentrations.
[Read More]Science of Summer: How Is Ice Cream Made?
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 595 words
| Patria Henriques
Editor's Note: In this weekly series, LiveScience looks at scientific aspects of the summer season.
The ultimate summer treat is, arguably, ice cream. Some 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and other related frozen desserts are made every year in the United States, with production peaking (as one might expect) in the sultry summer months, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.
What are the tricks behind creating ice cream? From a chemistry perspective, this delectable substance is actually quite an unnatural thing.
[Read More]Scientists Eye Benefits of Spinach
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 374 words
| Arica Deslauriers
In the wake of the E. coli outbreak in which dozens of Americans were poisoned by tainted spinach, consumers might be weighing the vegetable's benefits against the risks of contamination.
Spinach is known for its high fiber content and its abundance of antioxidants and vitamins that studies have shown might decrease the risk of stroke and developing cataracts. The leafy green that gave Popeye his fictional super-strength might also promote super-sharp eyesight in the real world.
[Read More]Solar storm may amp up northern lights before Christmas
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 390 words
| Fernande Dalal
A solar storm that erupted from the sun on Monday (Dec. 20) may boost northern lights displays around the north pole just ahead of Santa's trip this weekend, the U.K. Met Office space weather forecasting center said Wednesday (Dec. 22).
The solar storm was caused by a coronal mass ejection(opens in new tab), or CME, a powerful eruption of magnetically charged particles and plasma from the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere, the corona.
[Read More]The 5 Reasons We Still Love James Bond
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 962 words
| Patria Henriques
Our Favorite Secret AgentJames Bond, the suave British intelligence agent who first debuted as a film character 50 years ago, is back for a new installment called "Skyfall," which earned a sterling 93 percent approval rate from critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com.
Few characters, perhaps none, have withstood the passage of time as well. According to film critic Bill Desowitz, author of the book "James Bond Unmasked," the James Bond film franchise is the longest-running continuous franchise ever.
[Read More]Trump's Inauguration: Why God Plays a Role in the Swearing In
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 1020 words
| Fernande Dalal
On Friday (Jan. 20), Donald Trump will place his hand on the Bible and swear an oath to serve the United States as its 45th president and preserve the U.S. Constitution to the best of his abilities.
Before his oath, there will be an invocation and prayer reading by His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York; Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and Pastor Paula White, of New Destiny Christian Center, according to an official schedule of events.
[Read More]What Your 'Brain Age' Means For Living Longer
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 627 words
| Trudie Dory
Your brain may not be the same age as your body, and an "older" brain may be linked to an increased risk of dying at a younger age, a new study from the United Kingdom finds.
People in the study whose brains were older by certain measures had a greater risk of poor mental and physical health and were more likely to die at an earlier age compared to those with younger brains, the study said.
[Read More]Will the US Really Experience a Violent Upheaval in 2020?
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 6 minutes
| 1095 words
| Trudie Dory
Circa 1870, the North fought the South in the Civil War. Half a century later, around 1920, worker unrest, racial tensions and anti-Communist sentiment caused another nationwide upsurge of violence. Then, 50 years later, the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement triggered a third peak in violent political, social and racial conflict. Fifty years after that will be 2020. If history continues to repeat itself, we can expect a violent upheaval in the United States in a few years.
[Read More]World's Rainforests Act as Rain-Collecting Umbrellas
Posted on May 18, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 537 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
With billions of overlapping leaves, stretching sometimes for hundreds of feet above the ground, the canopies of the world's rainforests act like giant umbrellas – catching rain before it has a chance to reach the forest floor. It turns out that these arboreal umbrellas intercept almost 2 trillion gallons of rain each year, a new study that could improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change finds.
That's about 20 percent of the rain that falls from the sky over the world's forests.
[Read More]