Hundreds of Years of Tree Rings Reveal a Grim Anomaly That Began in The 20th Century

Look carefully, and tree rings can reveal quite a lot – including changes in the soil moisture that the trees are growing in. Now, scientists have collected 600 years of this data to better understand recent climate change, including a weather anomaly that was first noticeable in the middle of the 20th century. The new records make up the latest edition of the South American Drought Atlas (

For The First Time, Scientists Find a Way to Make Targeted Edits to Mitochondrial DNA

Most cells in your body come with two genetic libraries; one in the nucleus, and the other inside structures called mitochondria - also known as the 'powerhouses of the cell'. Until now, we've only had a way to make changes to one. A combined effort by several research teams in the US has led to a process that could one day allow us to modify the instructions making up the cell's 'other' g

Scientists Detect Earth’s Atmosphere ‘Ringing’ Like a Bell

Just as the Moon tugs at our planet's seas, contributing to oceanic tidal waves, it also pulls at our atmosphere along with the Sun, creating waves in the sky. A new study now demonstrates how some types of 'sky waves' resonate around Earth, much like how sound waves resonate inside a bell. In the water, waves are produced by passing energy. Energy moving through our skies - from things li

The Most Powerful Gamma Ray Burst Just Corroborated General Relativity Once Again

Last year, scientists detected the most energetic gamma ray burst we've ever seen. A distant galaxy spat out a colossal flare in the range of a trillion electron volts (TeV), providing invaluable new insight into the physics of these incredibly energetic events. That was pretty amazing on its own - but now astrophysicists have used the burst to perform a new, precise test of the theory of gener

A Major Food Chain Shift Appears to Be Happening in The Arctic Right Now

There's a major change happening in the Arctic. Dark waters are blooming with algae, as sunlight floods spaces long obscured by sheets of ice. Over the past two decades, there's been a 57 percent increase in phytoplankton in the Arctic ocean, an analysis by researchers from Stanford University has revealed. That's outpaced scientist's expectations, and it's changing the way the ocean stores

Neptune’s Moons Are Caught in One of The Strangest Orbits Ever Seen

Life isn't always easy for astrophysicists: just when they've figured out another aspect of the patterns of movement in our Solar System, along come two of the moons of Neptune to mess everything up. The two moons in question are Naiad and Thalassa, both around 100 kilometres or 62 miles wide, which race around their planet in what NASA researchers are calling a "dance of avoidance". Their

Scientists Grew A Plant From A 32,000-Year-Old Seed And It’s All Thanks To Squirrels

Oh, how much we still don’t know about this planet we call home (no rhyme intended.) So many mysteries left to uncover, so many puzzles left to crack! In 2012, one such peculiar puzzle fell straight into the hands of six Russian scientists and left them quite intrigued, to say the least. In 2012, S. Yashina, S. Gubin, S. Maksimovich, A. Yashina, E. Gakhova, and D. Gilichinsky found some 32,00

Man Designs An Off-Road “Wheelchair” So That His Wife Can Go Places She Never Imagined, It’s Now Up For Mass-Production

Cambry has been restricted to the pavement for most of her adult life. She’s paralyzed and gets around in a wheelchair. So, trying to help her go more places, her then-boyfriend Zack Nelson spliced together two electric bikes with a seat in the center. And it worked. Cambry said she experienced a whole new level of freedom with it. Not only could she overcome — or should I say, overdrive — o

Meet The Stunning Kea, The Only Alpine Parrot In The World

The world is a fascinating place and the natural habitat of countless different animals. Birds bring a variety to the animal world. With their splendid, colorful plumages, they are a beautiful addition to the scene, while the pleasant sounds they make create a magical, relaxing atmosphere in nature. Unfortunately, many birds have been extinct due to disturbed ecological balance, poaching, and h

Ocean Voyages Institute Removes 206,000 Lbs Of Plastic From The Ocean In The Biggest Ocean Clean-Up Effort So Far

Plastic became globally mass-produced 65 years ago and since then, the amount of plastic we use has skyrocketed. So has plastic pollution. In 2015, 387 million tons of plastic were produced compared to 2 million manufactured in 1950. The staggering overconsumption of this material has a devastating effect on the environment with our oceans suffering the worst by far. It has been estimated that 8 m