The Hubble Space Telescope, which has delivered awe-inspiring images of creation and destruction from the deepest reaches of the universe, was placed into orbit on this day in history, April 25, 1990. “Hubble’s launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo’s telescope,”NASA writes in an online history of the Hubble program. The telescope, …
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Massachusetts-based marine scientists attach camera to great white for intriguing 'shark's-eye view'
Cape Cod, Massachusetts-based marine scientists successfully attached a camera tag to a great white shark in waters off the southeastern portion of the U.S. for just the second time. Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) scientist Megan Winton and charter boat Capt. Chip Michalove of Outcast Sportfishing were both working off the coast of South Carolina, when they caught a 9-foot …
Read More »Vietnam implements new rice farming techniques in effort to mitigate methane emissions
There is one thing that distinguishes 60-year-old Vo Van Van’s rice fields from a mosaic of thousands of other emerald fields across Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: It isn’t entirely flooded. That and the giant drone, its wingspan similar to that of an eagle, chuffing high above as it rains organic fertilizer onto the knee-high rice seedlings …
Read More »Is the East Coast on the brink of a major earthquake — and are we prepared?
The earthquake that struck the East Coast earlier this month was felt by an estimated 42 million people and luckily caused little damage, but what are the chances of a bigger, more powerful quake striking the area? And if it does, what could it look like — and are we prepared? The April 5 phenomenon was a 4.8 magnitude earthquake …
Read More »How this new crazy invisibility tech can literally make you disappear
What would you think if I told you that there is technology available today that could make you vanish? It’s true. Thanks to optical engineering, it’s possible to become invisible to the naked eye. This isn’t just a fantasy. It’s a reality crafted by the U.K.’s Invisibility Shield Co., which has introduced the impressive Invisibility Shield. This 6-foot-tall shield offers …
Read More »Giant extinct snake discovered in India was 50 feet long, said researchers
New research suggests an enormous snake may have once called India home. Fossilized vertebrae found near a coal mine in western India indicate that the snake was between 36 feet and 50 feet long. This is up to eight feet longer than the largest snake known to man and nearly 17 feet longer than the current largest living snake, the …
Read More »'Forever chemicals' found in US drinking water, map shows 'hot spots' of highest levels
The risk of having potentially harmful chemicals in your drinking water may depend on your zip code. A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience on April 8 found that higher amounts of PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) were found in drinking water in certain parts of the U.S. PFAS — also known as “forever chemicals” due to how slowly they break …
Read More »Study finds evidence of microplastics in brains and other organs
Two new studies have described the ways in which tiny microplastics can end up in humans’ organs and even in the brains of mice. One of the studies, published in Environmental Health Perspectives April 10, involved feeding healthy mice microplastics over a period of four to eight weeks. Scientists later found that various organs in the mice were contaminated. “In …
Read More »Is this technology the answer to cleaning up our ocean’s plastic problem?
In the vast, swirling expanse of the North Pacific Ocean lies a phenomenon as intriguing as it is troubling – the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). This colossal debris vortex stretching from California to Japan has become the poster child for the planet’s plastic pollution crisis. Yet, amid this dire scenario, a project called The Ocean Cleanup has emerged as …
Read More »African weather system generating rumors of UFOs and 80-foot waves, blamed on software 'error'
Alien and conspiracy theorists showed up in full force last week after a weather modeling software “error” showed an anomaly the size of Texas moving up the African coastline while generating waves bigger than 80 feet high. Ventusky is an application that presents weather and meteorological data to allow people to monitor developments anywhere in the world. According to the …
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