Science

The Dead Sea has been building a salt floor for years. In 2019, scientists finally revealed a hidden process that keeps adding new salt every year. |

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The Dead Sea has been building a salt floor for years. In 2019, scientists finally revealed a hidden process that keeps adding new salt every year. |

For years, the Dead Sea presented scientists with a genuine puzzle. Its upper waters, warmed by relentless sun and thickened by evaporation, seemed to shed salt each summer rather than accumulate it, while the lakebed far below kept gaining a fresh crust of crystals regardless of season. According to a 2016 study published in Limnology … Read more

Scientists are turning discarded wood into foam to replace plastic in packaging and construction industries; it can decompose in soil within months

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Scientists are turning discarded wood into foam to replace plastic in packaging and construction industries; it can decompose in soil within months

In Canada, wood waste from logging and areas affected by wildfires is finding an unexpected fate. A new pilot in the country has begun converting this material into a lightweight, biodegradable wood foam designed to replace products made with plastic foam, according to information released by the University of British Columbia (UBC). While discarded plastic … Read more

Conservationists move threatened sea turtle nests to safer sand to save eggs from heat and tides; a 2-year study found lower hatching success, smaller hatchlings and just 8% males in one season

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Conservationists move threatened sea turtle nests to safer sand to save eggs from heat and tides; a 2-year study found lower hatching success, smaller hatchlings and just 8% males in one season

Representative Image (AI-generated) As rising temperatures, flooding and erosion put sea turtle nests at greater risk, conservationists often step in to move vulnerable eggs to safer parts of the beach. The practice can prevent an entire clutch from being destroyed by high tides, extreme heat or other immediate threats. But a new two-year study suggests … Read more

55 million-year-old penguin fossils reveal hidden chemical clues about Antarctica before the continent became frozen |

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55 million-year-old penguin fossils reveal hidden chemical clues about Antarctica before the continent became frozen |

PC: Eocene penguin fossils as archives of Antarctic weathering and climate change: insights from micro-X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping Fifty-five million years ago, Antarctica looked nothing like the frozen continent we know today. Its coastlines were warm and humid, its shores home to some of the earliest penguins ever to exist, and its rocks were quietly … Read more

Vietnamese cocoa processor converts 5,000 tons of discarded pods into biochar and clean energy, turning cocoa waste into heat that cuts drying time from 15 days to 7 |

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Vietnamese cocoa processor converts 5,000 tons of discarded pods into biochar and clean energy, turning cocoa waste into heat that cuts drying time from 15 days to 7 |

A cocoa processor in Dong Nai, Vietnam, has turned a long-standing waste problem into part of the solution for one of its biggest production headaches. Trong Duc Cocoa Company, the country’s second-largest cocoa producer, generates around 5,000 tons of empty fruit pods every year after extracting fresh beans. Rather than letting that waste pile up, … Read more

Quote of the day by Isaac Asimov: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that knowledge…” |

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Quote of the day by Isaac Asimov: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that knowledge…” |

Image(s): Left/Wikipedia/Right/Fandom Humanity has never had access to information on the scale available today. With a few taps, we can find scientific discoveries, historical records, news and opinions from almost anywhere in the world. Yet having more information does not necessarily mean becoming wiser about how to use it. Isaac Asimov captured this tension in … Read more

Scientists found that DNA once dismissed as “junk” helps chromosomes find their partners |

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Scientists found that DNA once dismissed as “junk” helps chromosomes find their partners |

For years, the dense loops of repetitive DNA clustered near the middle of chromosomes were treated as evolutionary clutter. According to the new study published in Nature, titled ‘Meiotic pairing through barcode-like satellite DNA repeats‘, researchers working with fruit flies have shown that this so-called satellite DNA forms a kind of barcode: a unique combination … Read more

Yale researchers found a new way to tackle ‘forever chemicals’: they make some PFAS molecules roughly twice as large so they separate from water and become easier to destroy

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Yale researchers found a new way to tackle ‘forever chemicals’: they make some PFAS molecules roughly twice as large so they separate from water and become easier to destroy

forever checmicals(Representative image) Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are often called “forever chemicals” because their ultra-strong carbon–fluorine bonds make them stubbornly resistant to breakdown in the environment. They’re prized in industry for repelling water, oil and heat, but that same durability means they persist in soil, water and living tissue long after use. Now, a … Read more

A cooling film developed at the University of Illinois was tested on Houston infrastructure for FIFA; treated metal roofs stayed over 40°F cooler in direct sunlight without using electricity |

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A cooling film developed at the University of Illinois was tested on Houston infrastructure for FIFA; treated metal roofs stayed over 40°F cooler in direct sunlight without using electricity |

In Houston, the heat is part of the setting. During the FIFA Fan Festival, though, some of the infrastructure around the event had a rather different experience of the Texas summer. Roofs treated with a thin cooling film stayed dramatically cooler than nearby untreated metal surfaces, even while sitting beneath direct sunlight.The material was not … Read more

In 1973, Nasa sent two fish and 50 eggs into space; the unusual experiment helped reveal what happens to living organisms without gravity |

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In 1973, Nasa sent two fish and 50 eggs into space; the unusual experiment helped reveal what happens to living organisms without gravity |

When humans leave Earth, even something as basic as knowing which way is up can become confusing. That made fish surprisingly useful subjects for space research. In 1973, Nasa sent two mummichogs and 50 eggs aboard Skylab 3, giving scientists a chance to watch both adult fish and young that developed entirely in orbit. Soon … Read more