Telescope Accessories: What Do You Really Need?
The right telescope accessories can help you photograph the sky, the moon, the stars, and more. Learn how to choose the right ones for you.
Read MoreMonth: August 2016
Life Cycle of a Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly
The pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, is a relatively small black swallowtail with gorgeous, iridescent blue scaling.
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Robust Rice Varieties Cut Costs and Pollution
By Neha Jain @lifesciexplore Climate change coupled with our growing population is putting tremendous pressure on world food production, especially in developing countries. We need crops that use resources more efficiently. Scientists from China and Canada have identified “superstar” rice varieties that can reduce pollution and also save money spent by farmers on nitrogen fertilizers. “Anything we can do to reduce demand for nitrogen, both environmentally and for farmers in the developing world struggling to pay for it, is a significant contribution,” says Herbert Kronzucker, distinguished professor at the University…
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Tips from Professors for University Freshmen
As August draws to a close, many young people are starting their first year at college and university. To help them prepare, professors in various science departments at top universities share what they think is essential knowledge for incoming freshmen. Lindsay Whaley, a professor from the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Dartmouth College: “Scale back on your extra-curricular involvement by about half of what you are currently planning to do. Intellectual growth requires time for reflection. Personal growth requires bandwidth for unexpected interactions and adventures. You will stunt your growth…
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Climate Change Strikes Totten Glacier in Antarctica
Totten Glacier is losing ice, and the warm ocean water causing this has the potential to also push the glacier back to an unstable place.
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Parasitic Bees: Natural-Born Robbers
By Steven Spence Photography by John Kimbler When we think of bees, most of us picture honeybees or possibly bumblebees. In fact, there are over 20,000 species of bees. Some are social, such as honeybees and bumblebees, while others are solitary. Bees typically build nests, collect pollen and nectar, and care for their offspring. Some bees, though, do not busy themselves with these things; instead, they move in as parasites, taking over other bees’ nests. Estimates based on surveys of North American bees indicate that as many as 15 percent…
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Pathogenic Triggers of Bacterial DNA Discovered
By Shayna Keyles @shaynakeyles Bacteria, those mysterious, microscopic creatures living in, on, and around us, are very often our benign neighbors with whom we quietly cohabitate and occasionally exchange mutual support. However, as anyone who has ever gotten pneumonia or strep throat knows, bacteria are not always looking out for our best interests. Occasionally, bacteria become pathogenic and infect their hosts, and if we are their hosts, we get sick. In a groundbreaking study published on July 29 in Science Access, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory uncovered the molecular…
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Tracking Climate Change Through Hibernating Toads
By Neha Jain @lifesciexplore Have you ever wondered how animals are coping with warming temperatures? Our warming planet affects the migration, reproduction, and hibernation of animals that depend on the seasons to regulate these behaviors. For example, new research finds that Fowler’s toads in Canada are emerging out of hibernation earlier each spring as the climate warms. Hibernating Toads Even though David Green, a professor at McGill University, Canada, had been studying Fowler’s toads for the past 25 years, the discovery of the toads’ early emergence from hibernation was quite…
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Science and the City: The Mechanics Behind the Metropolis
In Science and the City, Laurie Winkless explores the best scientific ideas and minds preparing our cities for this world of tomorrow.
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New Antibiotic Discovered Up Your Nose
By Michelle Kuepper While concerns continue to build around the increase in drug-resistant germs, and researchers look for alternatives to antibiotics, one team has isolated a bacterium inside the human nose that works as an antibiotic against Staph infections. Biologists have discovered that a bacterium found in the human nose can produce antibiotics to destroy Staphyloccus aureus (Staph), a bacterium that causes many conditions including Toxic Shock Syndrom, skin infections and food poisoning. The researchers behind the Nature study found that the antibiotic, which they named Lugdunin, is so powerful it can even kill…
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