Great-grandma and cat survive five days in Colorado wilderness

Ruby Stein and her cat, Nikki, rationed their food and fashioned a blanket to stave off the cold.

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Bernie Sanders says oil company knows more about climate change than 'pathetic' Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders has claimed that an oil company “understands more about climate change” than Donald Trump, after ExxonMobil urged the government not to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord. In a letter to the government, a senior official from the US’s largest oil company, said the accord signed in 2015 was “an effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change”. “It is prudent that the United States remain a party to the...

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Filming mosquitoes reveals a completely new approach to flight

Mosquitos generate lift via three mechanisms, two of them new to us.

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1,000-Year-Old Toy Viking Boat Unearthed in Norway

A wooden toy discovered during an excavation of an Iron Age site in central Norway hints that 1,000 years ago, a child may have imagined ferocious Viking battles by playing with a carved replica of a ship. Found buried in a dry well at a small farm in the town of Ørland on the coastal tundra, the boat is whittled in a style resembling Viking vessels, with an uplifted prow and a hole in the center that likely held a mast for a sail.

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Researchers identify genes that give cannabis its flavour

UBC scientists have scanned the genome of cannabis plants to find the genes responsible for giving various strains their lemony, skunky or earthy flavours, an important step for the budding legal cannabis industry. “The goal is to develop well-defined and highly-reproducible cannabis varieties. This is similar to the wine industry, which depends on defined varieties such as chardonnay or merlot for high value products,” said Jörg Bohlmann, a professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories...

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A Sculpture of a Buddhist Deity Made From 20,000 Beetles

Located roughly an hour north from central Tokyo is a fairly nondescript government building: Itakura Town Hall in Gifu prefecture. The building houses a small gallery that counts among its collections various obscure pottery work and paintings as well as a glass-enclosed sculpture of a Buddhist deity made from roughly 20,000 beetles in numerous varieties. If you have any form of entomophobia or insectophobia I suggest you don’t read on.

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Scientists Who Want To Study Climate Engineering Shun Trump

President Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Tuesday that will begin to undo a slew of government efforts to fight global warming. Among those worrying and watching to see how the executive order plays out are scientists who actually are in favor of exploring bold interventions to artificially cool the climate. Just a year ago, some hoped that the U. S. government would start funding such research and take a leadership role.

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For the first time, we know what Tyrannosaur faces really looked like

No feathers, but specialized scales on its snout could sense vibration, heat.

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Trump plays the villain in trailer for 'An Inconvenient Truth' sequel

"Climate changes. Truth does not." That's the tagline for An Inconvenient Sequel, the follow-up to Al Gore's 2007 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary — which debuted at Sundance Film Festival — released its first trailer on Tuesday, and it couldn't be more timely. President Trump plays a prominent role in the trailer, which dropped on the same day that the president signed an executive order aimed at rolling back the Obama Administration's climate policies.

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Nearly extinct tigers found breeding in Thai jungle

Hopes rise for critically endangered big cats, with only 221 Indochinese tigers thought to remain in Thailand and Myanmar

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Blind tadpoles learn visually with eye grafted on tail

The strategy uses a drug already approved in humans and could provide a road map for promoting the supply of nerves to new organs in regenerative medicine. In a new study, blind tadpoles were able to process visual information from eyes that were grafted onto their tails after being treated with a neurotransmitter drug. Researchers used a neurotransmitter drug called Zolmitriptan, which is already approved for other uses in humans, to enhance integration and functionality of the grafted eye.

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Ex-Cyclone Debbie: Australia Floods Force more Evacuations

Ex-Cyclone Debbie brings widespread flash flooding to Queensland's most populous region.

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VIDEO: Lava Flows Down Side of Mount Etna

A long bright-red flow of lava moved down the side of Mount Etna Monday in the latest show put on by Europe's most active volcano.

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Interior secretary: Trump’s border wall may be built in Mexico because “we won’t cede” the Rio Grande

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suggests that the Trump administration may not even build the border wall in U.S.

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Trading One Bad Map for Another?

Boston Public Schools just dumped the Mercator Projection, to much fanfare. But cartographers aren’t impressed.

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Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev commits to 100 percent renewable energy

Brewing powerhouse Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has committed to secure all of its purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025. In an announcement on Tuesday, the business said that its commitment would help to "shift 6 terawatt-hours of electricity annually to renewable sources in the markets where AB InBev operates." It added that its decision to go big on renewable energy would cut its operational carbon footprint by 30 percent, equivalent to taking almost 500,000 cars off the road.

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These Fighting Fruit Flies Are Superheroes of Brain Science

POW! BAM! Fruit flies battling like martial arts masters are helping scientists map brain circuits. This research could shed light on human aggression and depression.

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Energy Department climate office bans use of phrase ‘climate change’

The Office of International Climate and Clean Energy is the only office at DOE with the words "climate" in its name, and it may be endangered as Trump looks to reorganize government agencies.

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Huge nuclear cost overruns push Toshiba's Westinghouse into bankruptcy

Westinghouse Electric Co, a unit of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast.

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Mosquito Behavior Is Evolving, and Malaria Is Benefitting — NOVA Next | PBS

Bed nets have cut the spread of malaria, but mosquitoes are evolving resistance to them by changing their behavior.

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In March Mammal Madness, Our Money's On The Giant Pouched Rat

Because what mammal can take down a rodent that sniffs out land mines as well as TB — and jumps 5 feet in the air? Surely not tonight's competitor, the maned wolf.

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Cats Are Actually Nice, Scientists Find

Sorry, haters. Let me tell you about my handsome son, Mizue. He's a cat. He cuddles up beside me and pushes his little furry head against me when he wants to be petted. He purrs and rubs up on everyone he meets. He's the best dude, is what I'm saying here, and I am goddamn sick of people saying that cats aren't nice. Cats are nice.

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Pushing Boundaries: Plant Hunters are the Pioneers of Colorado Botany

The joys and perils of searching for plants.

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I am an Arctic researcher. Donald Trump is deleting my citations.

These politically motivated data deletions come at a time when the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average...

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The Largest Dinosaur Footprint Ever Has Been Found in Australia's 'Jurassic Park'

On a 25 kilometre (15.5 mile) stretch of coastline in Western Australia, there lies a prehistoric treasure trove.

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California solar + wind record high at 49.2%, renewable electricity peaks above 56%

Solar power in California started setting production records on February 24th – production peaks have continued to occur since then. On Thursday of last week renewables broke 56% of total demand. This record is partially the result of a national 2016 installation boom of greater than 14GW of solar power that California took 35% of. According to the daily report on March 23rd, solar peaked around 11.16 AM – three minutes before the solar + wind peak of 49.2% and nine minutes before renewables peaked 56.7%.

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One of the most famous global warming scientists says climate change is becoming more extreme

One of the scientists who demonstrated conclusively that global warming was an unnatural event with the famous ‘hockey stick’ graph is now warning that giant jetstreams which circle the planet are being altered by climate change. Professor Michael Mann said extreme weather events – like the “unprecedented" drought in California last year, the flooding in Pakistan in 2010 and the heatwave in Europe in 2003 – were happening more often than they should do, even taking the warming climate into account.

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You're treating jellyfish stings all wrong

So you've been stung by a jellyfish. The good news: there's no need to get your friend to pee on you. The bad news: all the other solutions you've heard of will probably only make it worse.

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How One Of The World’s Toughest Creatures Can Bring Itself Back To Life

The tardigrade, a strange animal smaller than a grain of sand and with hooks for feet, can survive in a dried-up state for a decade. Its secret might help improve how drugs are shipped and stored. By Madeline K. Sofia.

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Green Turaco with style

"Took this photo at woodside wildlife and falconry park again, in the warm and very tropical section where these guys we're flying around and eating fresh fruit. Their wings were a deep cobalt blue colour, really beautiful. Cool hair too."

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Scientists issue ‘apocalyptic’ warning about climate change

Researchers studying the largest-ever mass extinction in Earth’s history claim to have found evidence that it was caused by runaway global warming – and that the “apocalyptic” events of 250 million years ago could happen again. About 90 per cent of all the living things on the planet were wiped out in the Permian mass extinction – described in a 2005 book called When Life Nearly Died – for reasons that have been long debated by scientists. Competing theories have been put forward, including meteor strikes, huge volcanic eruptions and climate change.

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For insect detectives, the trickiest cases involve the bugs that aren't there

People with delusional parasitosis believe they need help not from a psychiatrist but from an insect specialist, so many turn to entomologists.

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Cloud Atlas Adds First New "Species" in Almost 70 Years

The World Meteorological Society announce that it is recognizing 12 new cloud-related features in its latest update to the International Cloud Atlas, released this week. These will be the first additions since 1951. As Matt McGrath at the BBC reports, the first International Cloud Atlas was released in 1896 and included 28 color photos. The last edition was produced in 1975 with an update that came out in 1987. This latest edition is being presented as a web portal on the WMO website.

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Animal Rights denounces cruelty to pigs in Tielt abattoir (Belgium)

Massive animal abuse in Belgian corporate slaughterhouse. The organisation filmed, in secret, “the fraudulent practices of Belgium's largest abattoir.” It denounces the “unimaginable suffering” that the pigs are enduring.

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Succulents, The Ultimate Guide

Since the once-humble succulent is still having its day (read: decade), we were delighted to learn that longtime succulent grower, gardener, and evangelist Robin Stockwell—owner of Succulent Gardens in Castroville, California—finally published a book on his beloved plant genre.

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Huge coral bleaching event warns of global devastation, study suggests

Mass coral bleaching events are among the most conspicuous signs of the extent to which our oceans are warming. The latest alarming evidence indicates that reefs themselves can heat up substantially more than the waters surrounding them, adding to the shock the coral experiences from considerable temperature changes. It is this heat change that stresses the corals, causing bleaching that can kill living reefs.

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Philadelphia Officer Arrested Over Dog Found in Trash Bag

A Philadelphia police officer is accused of putting his adopted pit bull mix in a trash bag and dumping it at a park last fall. Pennsylvania's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says Officer Michael Long, an 11-year veteran of the force, was arrested Thursday on animal cruelty and related misdemeanor charges.

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One Sloppy Land Surveyor Almost Caused a War Between Missouri and Iowa

In 1In 1839, the outcome of the “Honey War” hinged on the exact location of the Missouri-Iowa border.

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A 130-Year-Old Fact About Dinosaurs Might Be Wrong

New research on the creatures’ family tree could “shake dinosaur paleontology to its core.”

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'Devastating' coral loss in South China Sea

Scientists are warning of another "devastating" loss of coral due to a spike in sea temperatures. They say 40% of coral has died at the Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea. Nothing as severe has happened on Dongsha for at least 40 years, according to experts. Anne Cohen of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, US, said the high water temperatures of 2015/16 were devastating for reef systems globally, including Dongsha.

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Europe poised for total ban on bee-harming pesticides

The world’s most widely used insecticides would be banned from all fields across Europe under draft regulations from the European commission, seen by the Guardian. The documents are the first indication that the powerful commission wants a complete ban and cite “high acute risks to bees”. A ban could be in place this year if the proposals are approved by a majority of EU member states.

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Children in Fresno have three times the rate of lead poisoning as in Flint

Flint, Michigan put lead poisoning on the map for many. But the midwestern city is far from an outlier. Children in thousands of places in the US are plagued by high blood levels of lead—and a new report from Reuters found that in Fresno, California, children had lead poisoning at a rate three times that of children in Flint.

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7,000 underground gas bubbles poised to 'explode' in Arctic

Scientists have discovered as many as 7,000 gas-filled 'bubbles' expected to explode in Actic regions of Siberia after an exercise involving field expeditions and satellite surveillance, TASS reported. A number of large craters - seen on our images here - have appeared on the landscape in northern Siberia in recent years and they are being carefully studied by scientists who believe they were formed when pingos exploded.

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Good news for animal lovers: Congress bans cutting off dog tails

The controversial practice will now be outlawed in Spain, along with cropping ears, cutting vocal chords, and removing claws and teeth. The Spanish Congress on Thursday passed the law, which will put Spain in line with the 1987 European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative People’s Party (PP) had voted against the legislation, while the liberal Ciudadanos and Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) abstained, according to El Pais.

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Plans for coal-fired power plants drop by almost half in 2016

Twenty-sixteen saw a "dramatic" decline in the number of coal-fired power stations in pre-construction globally. The authors of a new study say there was a 48% fall in planned coal units, with a 62% drop in construction starts. The report, from several green campaign groups, claims changing policies and economic conditions in China and India were behind the decline. However, the coal industry argues the fuel will remain essential to economic growth in Asia for decades to come.

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Before the Flood - Sea Level Rise

The science is clear, the future is not

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Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaking 26%+ efficiency

A group of researchers funded by a Japanese government program develops “industrially compatible” cells. Solar panels are cheaper than ever these days, but installation costs can still be considerable for homeowners. More efficient solar panels can recapture the cost of their installation more quickly, so making panels that are better at converting sunlight into electricity is a key focus of solar research and development. The silicon-based cells that make up a solar panel have a theoretical efficiency limit of 29 percent, but so far that number has proven elusive. Practical efficiency rates in the low-20-percent range have been...

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World abandons coal in dramatic style raising hope of avoiding dangerous global warming, report says

As Donald Trump pledges to put coal miners back to work in the United States, the rest of the world appears to have suddenly started moving in the opposite direction, abandoning the dirtiest of fossil fuels after 10 years of expansion, according to a new analysis. Boom and Bust 2017, compiled by US environmental group the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and research group CoalSwarm, reported a 62 per cent fall in the number of new coal-fired power stations being built worldwide in 2016 and a 48 per cent drop in “pre-construction activity”.

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Sea level rise: Miami and Atlantic City fight to stay above water

Sea levels are rising. For many cities on the the eastern shores of the United States, the problem is existential. We take a look at how Miami and Atlantic City are tackling climate change, and the challenges they face under a skeptical Trump administration that plans to cut funding for environmental programs.

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